It was one of those years: a year absolutely LOADED with great Milwaukee music. So while this list covers nearly 40 different artists, it’s hardly exhaustive or complete. Instead, take it for what it is: a brief look at some of our personal favorite Milwaukee LPs, EPs, and songs of the year. Twenty-twenty-four was a keeper. Here’s to 2025!
MATT’S 5 FAVORITE MILWAUKEE LPs OF 2024
Veteran Milwaukee emcee Adebisi Agoro has been releasing music under his BLAX moniker for nearly a decade. This year’s BLAXPLOITATION finds him at his creative and spiritual peak: one minute he’s preaching the gospel of a life well-lived and hard-won (“Blessed”), and the next he’s baring his soul in an emotionally devastating but ultimately uplifting tribute to his late son (“Teenager”). Elsewhere, “Interpretation of Dreams” is a nimble and lyrically assured song that finds the artist skipping like a stone across a mystical track, and closer “Intelligent Beings” searches for just that in this world and beyond. In fact, BLAXPLOITATION is all about searching—searching for peace, searching for wisdom, searching for God. It’s thrilling to hear BLAX catch glimpses of all three.
The tension between nature and the synthetic animates much of Caley Conway’s excellent 2024 record Partner. “Sky Blue” paints an impressionistic landscape “in periwinkle and oxygen,” a scene full of yellow finches and flocks of geese and Conway herself, “ruby-throated, all of my powers sugar.” On the other end of the nature-tech spectrum, “Avatar” grapples with the anxieties of the endless digital scroll, with Conway casting herself as her own virtual stand-in and finding existential dread in a cursor on an empty search bar. Partner is Conway’s first full-length release since 2019’s Surrounded Middle, and it’s wonderful to hear her luxuriate in the space afforded by these seven hazy, deliberately paced, and jazz-inflected indie-rock tracks, escaping reality one minute and tussling with the physical the next.
Hello, Face – Why The Long Phase?
By its own admission, Hello, Face is the type of band “best played loudly in a bar on repeat.” That’s an apt and admirable description, but it’s when Hello, Face should be played loudly in a bar on repeat that makes the Milwaukee group so compelling. One listen to the new Why The Long Phase? will plunk you down in your favorite watering hole, right around 1 a.m. It’s not closing time, but it’s getting there. The record rings with sparkling alt-rock guitars, earnest and effortless melodies, and a hard-won sense of bleary-eyed optimism. “Love keeps us safe…when we’re not,” Bobby Flowers sings in album opener “Love Keeps.” And while bar-time rockers abound on Phase (“Playing In The Bar,” natch), it makes room for synth-flecked swooners (“Quiet Nights”) and impossibly lovely acoustic ballads (“No One Else”).
Amy Come On Home may be Ladybird’s first full-length record (two EPs preceded it in 2021 and 2023), but it has all the hallmarks of an accomplished sophomore album. Opener “Audrey’s Garden” is a sepia-toned country tear jerker, “Kemp Lane” is a smoldering rocker, and “Short King Shuffle” is a hilarious barn burner. All throughout, Pete McDermott and company shine both musically and lyrically. Ladybird had a BIG 2024—Amy Come On Home was celebrated with not one, but two sold-out shows at the Cactus Club—and the band seems destined for continued greatness.
A poet by day, Casey O’Brien previously made music with “all-girl, punk rock, holiday jam band” Cinnaminiatures. Stephen Strupp, meanwhile, spent years with stellar indie outfit Sat. Nite Duets, as well as the excellent Soda Road. Put them together and you get chilled-out indie-synth project Sure Thing and its wonderfully droll and occasionally heartbreaking self-titled debut. Opener “Fading Little Suns” is a tale of former love set against a backdrop of a voting booth, a waiting room, and the Cactus Club. Lead single “PDA Now” contains some typically winning O’Brien lyrics: “I’m into PDA now / I’ll kiss your teeth in a crowd / And when our friends are around / They feel weird but I don’t know how to stop.” And if you’re looking for some toe-tapping existential millennial dread, look no further than the delightful “Tamagotchi.”
TYLER’S 5 FAVORITE MILWAUKEE LPs OF 2024
Barely Civil – I’d Say I’m Not Fine
Despite the album’s name—referencing a theme of emotional uneasiness that permeates the 10-track effort—Barely Civil sounds better than ever on this release. The area emo act capably manages to vacillate between delicate, downtempo offerings and cathartic crescendos with ease. Highlights like “Coasting, Mostly” and Milwaukee/Earth song of the year candidate “Better Now” keep the energy high before the album ultimately settles into a welcomed pattern of tempo and tonal shifts that brings listeners along for the ride. The group’s third LP doesn’t need to be consumed in its entirety, but this album that documents ups, downs, doubts, resolve, highs, and lows is a more enjoyable and rewarding journey when you take it all in at once.
Garden Home is now a band in full bloom, as its long-awaited debut album shows the encouraging seeds scattered on its 2021 EP and during its steady diet of live shows have taken root and grown into something substantial. Before the eight-song, approximately 24-minute effort is through, the screamo outfit bestows blistering guitar work (perhaps best expressed on “Imposter”), muddy bass (“Not Today”), crushing percussion, and brash vocals upon listeners en route to cementing its now-justified status as one of the city’s most exciting young bands with its distinct brand of punishing, tempo-shifting, and altogether emotional material.
Immortal Girlfriend – Sojourner
In the four years since Immortal Girlfriend released its RIDE EP, the “Dark Knights of Synth” (a.k.a. siblings William and Kevin Bush) put out some standalone singles with ambitious accompanying music videos, started their own solo endeavors, and had song placements on a handful of TV shows. All the while, the Bush brothers were also quietly creating material for another Immortal Girlfriend EP, which they dropped without warning in February. The seven-song Sojourner continues the trend of exceptional otherworldly output by one of the city’s best all-around acts. From start to finish, listeners are invited to spend time traversing the lush landscapes and expansive environments Immortal Girlfriend carefully crafted through their technical proficiency, lyrical skills, and an uncanny ability to breathe human life into largely synthetic source material.
The Real Truth—the formal debut album by singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Maximiano—is an ongoing story. It touches upon a range of emotions, making sure to never spend too long on any singular sensation. It’s sad, triumphant, pensive, and omniscient…sometimes all within the same song. Stylistically, it veers from Americana to folk to indie rock to the general periphery of alt-country. The only constant within the vehicle’s ever-changing perspective and sound is its driver. Maximiano stands squarely at the center of their 11-song effort, which expertly alternates from bare bones instrumentation paired with raw emotion to self-assured and shouted declarations that are ballasted by accompaniment from a murderers’ row of up-and-coming Milwaukee musicians. In the 40-some minutes between the slow-developing title track that nudges The Real Truth into motion and the delicate march towards a jubilant crescendo of album-ending “The Moment’s Gone,” listeners are treated to one of the most honest, vulnerable, and altogether beautiful releases a Milwaukee musician has managed this year.
The Stinkeyes — Out Of Spite / Out Of Mind
Fans of clever wordplay and well-crafted punk rock will find both on display in a big way on Out Of Spite / Out Of Mind, the debut full-length by The Stinkeyes. The self-described “skunk punk” trio’s album is chock full of witty puns, top-notch turns of phrase, portmanteaus aplenty, and delightful double entendres that are delivered in the form of brash vocals set to gloriously grimy music. The driving drums, distorted guitar, and shouted dual vocals on opening track “Polly Pocketknife” set the tone right away, which persists for the entirety of the 10-song, 40-minute effort. Along the way, horror-punk offering “Ghouls Gone Vile” showcases a spooky side, “Junk Male” takes disrespectful men to task while serving as an upbeat pop-punk earworm in the process, and “D-I-Why” is an anthemic and artist-centered call to action. All told, Out Of Spite / Out Of Mind manages to wrap deceivingly smart lyrics and personal themes in an upbeat and fun package.
MATT’S 5 FAVORITE MILWAUKEE EPs OF 2024
The Hallelujah Ward — I Forced Myself To Live, Charlie Bee
The long-awaited debut from The Hallelujah Ward is a five-song collection of dynamic and off-kilter indie-rock songs that singer-songwriter March Waldoch has been tinkering with for the past three years—and, in some cases, even longer. Along with bassist Paul Hancock (Testa Rosa) and drummer Dan Didier (The Promise Ring), Waldoch gives everything he’s got on Charlie Bee. Lead single “Manageable Oblivion” is a driving, irresistible, heart-on-its-sleeve banger stuffed with quotable lyrics (“My friendless ocean has become an acquired kink”). “Love In A Time Of Blah Blah Blah” and “Blonde” swoop and soar along with Waldoch’s effects-laden vocals. “An Anthology Of Disappointing Young Poets” slowly builds to a psych-indebted climax, and closer “86,000 Heartbeats” plays more like a prayer than a pop song.
Max & The Fellow Travelers – The Fellow Travelers
One of the busiest and most beloved Milwaukee bands to make its name post-pandemic has been Diet Lite. In 2024, the group even added “singer-songwriter starts his own country-leaning solo project” to its resume. Max & The Fellow Travelers is indeed the country-leaning solo project from Diet Lite singer-songwriter Max Niemann. The project includes Niemann and a self-described “ragtag gang of friends and family.” The group’s four-song debut, The Fellow Travelers, is terrific: Fans of twangy Dylan (“Dogsittin’,”) plaintive fiddles (“Clean Copy,”) plaintive Wilco (“Jim’s Song,”) and some good ol’ fashioned songs about trains (“Train”) will find a lot to love here.
Rat Bath — Can’t Stand The Thought Of Us Ever Being Apart
How do you follow up a “murder country rock opera” concept album about a star-crossed vampire and a time-traveler—itself a follow-up to a previous concept album about a “witch whose powers are rendered useless when a demon appears in their home having been paid to capture them”? If you’re Rat Bath, you start over from scratch. Can’t Stand The Thought Of Us Ever Being Apart sets aside the deep gothic lore of Call Me A Monster and Rat From Hell and leans into Rat Bath’s confessional/emo side. Opener “7 To 4” is the most powerfully accessible song the band has ever created, “You Sly Dog, You Got Me Monologuing” is surprisingly delicate, and closer “Idk Guys…Does This EP Even Pass The Bechdel Test?” is both crunchy and charmingly self-aware. All hail Rat Bath’s self-described “rat-birth”!
It’s been five long years since excellent Milwaukee rock/punk/power-pop group SIN BAD issued its final release and went on indefinite hiatus. Back in early 2019, the trio (Audrey Pennings, Ben Woyak, Joe Kirschling) released a split LP with fellow Milwaukee group Bad Wig; soon after, Pennings moved to New Orleans and the band split up. But in early 2024, SIN BAD returned (albeit briefly) with It’s Final, a “long-lost” four-song EP that was recorded in 2019. Every song—from opener “Marry Me” to irresistible closer “Runnin'”—is an earworm, each a reminder of just how good SIN BAD was/is.
When he’s not busy performing monolith-sized psych-rock with Astral Hand, Milwaukee musician Victor Buell IV is busy crafting hazy retro-future soundscapes with his own solo/studio project, VBIV. Buell released his debut EP, Control, way back in 2015; this year, following 2021’s Fallen Angels, he returned with the stellar Material Vessel. The five-song EP has got it all: neon-drenched synth, soaring guitars, reverb-heavy vocals, and at least one Blade Runner reference (“Tears In The Rain”). “Mercury Eyes” is an instant Summer Playlist staple, and that subtle acoustic-electronic blend on “Fun Boy” hits just right.
TYLER’S 5 FAVORITE MILWAUKEE EPs OF 2024
Music has the ability to transcend language. An example of this that immediately comes to mind is Milwacumbia, the genre-melding new EP from Browns Crew member El Sebas. Delivered entirely in Spanish, the sub-20-minute release is entrancing, evocative, and intriguing…even to someone with only a high school-level understanding of the language. Over the course of six songs—each named with a single uppercase letter that spells out “CUMBIA”—El Sebas manages to stitch components of traditional Latin cumbia rhythms with elements of hip-hop to create something that simultaneously honors his Mexican roots and explores exciting modern sounds. If your feet haven’t been consistently tapping by the time “A” closes the EP out, there might be something wrong with you.
Field Report — Trust In Movements Made
In the title track of Field Report’s Trust In Movements Made EP, bandleader Chris Porterfield sings, “Trust in movements made / There’ll be better days / Don’t always see a way, but I’m holding on.” While they’re his lyrics, delivered with his voice in his band’s song, the sentiment belongs to someone else. For the first time in his project’s lengthy tenure, Porterfield relied on works from other writers to serve as source material. As this year’s Artist In Residence for a program at LOTUS Legal Clinic—an organization that supports survivors of human trafficking and sexual violence in Wisconsin—Porterfield adapted works from five people in its writer’s workshop into songs. After months of work and collaboration (and a late assist from his Field Report bandmates), Trust In Movements Made emerged as a tremendous aural encapsulation of pain, processing, and taking steps that lead to better things.
Genesis Renji — Is It Too Much
Tireless Milwaukee emcee Genesis Renji is no stranger to these lists, but this year’s entrant is noticeably different than his previously featured output. Renji’s just-released Is It Too Much finds the rapper dipping a toe into dance and electronic realms. With the help of producers like Johnny Xodus, 46Brock, Fortune, and Johnny Innuendo on the EP’s five thumping tracks, Renji’s smooth delivery—both rapping and singing—adds another layer of sheen to the sleek, infectious, and decidedly vibe-y departure from his previous releases. Oh, and we’re pretty sure “Friends” will be in our head well into 2025.
On Everything Is, Known Moons bandleader and founding member Andrew James—who had eschewed the spotlight in prior projects like Paper Holland and Flat Teeth—instantly earns attention with catchy vocals and agile instrumentation in opener “A Coffin For The Cosmos,” which sets a trend that continues for the duration of the young project’s five-song debut EP. James is joined on the release by an admirable cast of collaborators consisting of multi-instrumentalist/M.A.G.S. mastermind Elliott Douglas and Silver City Studios co-owner/lauded local musician Josh Evert. Between the trio’s next-level musicianship, James’ undeniable vocal and guitar chops, and the production flourishes that are present throughout, it’s hard to envision a more stunning introduction to this up-and-coming Milwaukee project.
Shorelining is the new project of Jesse Harmon, a current member of “horror psych” band Zang! and the former guitarist/vocalist of great post-punk project Piles. When Piles quietly called it quits last year, Harmon says he “was bored” and wanted to learn how to record his own material. Though technically a recording vehicle above all else, Shorelining’s self-titled EP is downright dazzling. Harmon’s hushed and delicate vocals on light and breezy tracks like “Reason” and “Forever” have little resemblance to the dark and dour presence he brought to much of Piles’ material. Over the span of about 20 minutes, the shimmering, indie-leaning EP manages to permeate warmth, possibility, and sun-soaked emotion that can transport listeners to the shores of Lake Michigan on a pristine summer day. If the Shorelining EP was a means of testing his recording abilities, Harmon passed with flying colors.
MATT’S 5 FAVORITE MILWAUKEE SONGS OF 2024
Body Futures — “True Monsters Of History”
Dogs In Ecstasy — “Podcasting”
Ellie Jackson — “China Lights”
TYLER’S 5 FAVORITE MILWAUKEE SONGS OF 2024
Diamond Life – “I Can’t Believe It!”
Ellee Grim – “I Think I’m Afraid Of You”
Spacecrime ft. Bad Graphics Ghost — “Give Me Something”
MATT’S FAVORITE ELEPHANT 6-ESQUE PSYCHEDELIC MILWAUKEE RECORD THAT HE TOTALLY NEGLECTED TO WRITE ABOUT OF 2024
Ever listen to an album for a week straight, enjoy it, but then inexplicably forget/neglect to write about it? It happens to me sometimes—and, oddly enough, seems to happen most often with stuff I really, really love. (See also: Maximiano’s The Real Truth, which Tyler covered above.) Anyway, The Journalist is the latest whimsical, joyous, and Elephant 6-esque psychedelic record from long-running Milwaukee psych/baroque-pop outfit Ravi/Lola. Similar to 2019’s Neighborhood Dream, it’s a concept album; this one tells the story “not of a profession, but a person, and a public reaction.” It’s a lovely record stuffed with kaleidoscopic instrumentation, the ’60s pop sensibilities of singer-songwriter Casey Seymour, and a sense of joy and play that begs for repeated listens. And, you know, long-delayed write-ups.
TYLER’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE ALBUM HE’S WRITING ABOUT HERE AS A LOOPHOLE TO ACTUALLY HAVE SIX FAVORITE LP PICKS OF 2024
It just didn’t feel right to keep the self-titled debut from Exitstatements—a new band with members of such notable Milwaukee acts as Northless, Soup Moat, and Emissary in its ranks—off this list. The seven-song effort takes an experimental, collaborative, flexible, and abstract approach while also managing to capably weave components of post-hardcore, punk, and even jazz into its self-described “experimental rock” framework. Exitstatements, somewhat ironically for a band with a name that evokes one’s parting words, makes one hell of a first impression with this album.
MATT’S FAVORITE LONG-DISTANCE SUPERGROUP RECORD THAT FEATURES A SPOKEN WORD CAMEO FROM WILLEM DAFOE OF 2024
Night Crickets – How It Ends (?)
Night Crickets—David J (Bauhaus, Love & Rockets), Victor DeLorenzo (Violent Femmes, Nineteen Thirteen), and multi-instrumentalist Darwin Meiners—first got together (virtually) during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, trading ideas and files to create 2022’s singular A Free Society. Go figure that their follow-up, the politically charged How It Ends (?), would be released now. Jazzy hep-cat opener “Red Mist White Knuckles” grapples with general malaise and unfocused, handed-down rage; “The Story Of War” is a mournful dirge; and closer “The World I See Is Not The World I Want” is less a song than a wounded mantra. “What in the world is the way of the world?” DeLorenzo intones on “World.” And yes, that’s forever-awesome actor Willem Dafoe contributing some spoken word to the track. (DeLorenzo and Dafoe are old Theatre X pals.)
TYLER’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE TRACK HE’S INCLUDING HERE AS A LOOPHOLE TO ACTUALLY HAVE SIX FAVORITE SONG PICKS OF 2024
Yep, it’s the old sixth song loophole. Deal with it! I simply couldn’t leave Old Pup’s excellent “Spider Towns” single off this list.
MATT’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE TRACKS HE’S INCLUDING HERE EVEN THOUGH TYLER WROTE ABOUT THE FULL RELEASES EARLIER OF 2024
Known Moons — “Simultaneous Highs”
Yep, it’s another loophole—and for two songs! Deal with it! I love, love, love these songs.
TYLER’S FAVORITE RE-RECORDED AND REISSUED MILWAUKEE ALBUM FROM A BAND THAT BROKE UP IN 1999 THAT WAS PUT OUT ON VINYL FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER OF 2024
With all due respect to Murder In The Red Barn and Akarso, the Tintoretto LP takes the cake when it comes to late-’90s or early-’00s Milwaukee math rock reissues that were pressed to wax this year because, well, it’s technically not a reissue. Though the self-titled release features every song the short-lived band ever wrote, Tintoretto’s original members re-recorded their entire catalog at Howl Street Recordings—which the group’s drummer Shane Hochstetler owns and operates—between late 2021 and early 2024. Beyond recapturing the framework of the songs in those sporadic sessions, some lyrics were updated, a few harmonies were added, minor tweaks were applied to some guitar parts, and vocals were even affixed to a song that used to be instrumental. While the sound and spirit of the original material remains, the production polish and subtle changes only serve to improve upon songs that ruled at the end of the 20th century and still rule today.
MATT’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE TRACK THAT WAS RELEASED JUST A FEW WEEKS AGO OF 2024
Let’s keep this simple: “I Require” is the debut single from Milwaukee band Dialogues (singer Emily Wagner-Morrow, guitarist Joe Kirschling, bassist Mark Zbikowski, drummer Quinn Cory). It was released in late November. It’s an alternately crunchy and bouncy alt/indie-rock ditty that the band says is about “getting older and finding more self reliance, and expressing loyalty and dedication to one’s friends and partners.” It ends with a bonkers saxophone solo. More songs should end with a bonkers saxophone solo! (That sax solo, by the way, is the work of the ever-busy Olivia Dobbs.) It’s great.
TYLER’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE ALBUM THAT WAS 40 YEARS IN THE MAKING OF 2024
The Mighty Deerlick — Happy Hour Ever After
Yes, despite being active in the local music scene since coming to Milwaukee in 1988, The Mighty Deerlick—which started out as The Slow Pedestrians in La Crosse in the early ’80s before vocalist Dave Reinholdt and guitarist Dan Franke moved here and changed the band’s name—has somehow only managed a cassette, a 7-inch, and a holiday release during its decades of existence. That all changed this summer with the release of Happy Hour Ever After, which is technically a debut album that doubles as a collection of the band’s best material through the years. Sadly, this 14-song accumulation of punk-tinged garage rock earworms was released after Franke’s passing last December, but the founding member’s presence on the recordings makes the loooooooong-awaited album even more special.
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