Believe it or not, 2026 is more than halfway over. Weird! What’s NOT weird: the incredible Milwaukee music scene! Here are just a few of our favorite 2026 Milwaukee releases—records, songs, videos—so far.
MATT’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE RECORDS OF 2026 (SO FAR)
The liner notes to the debut record from Milwaukee acoustic/Celtic/queer folk-rock band Bitch Creek are simple and to-the-point: “written and developed w love.” Countless records are written and developed with the same crucial ingredient, but there’s something about Bitch Creek that seems especially love-laden. On tracks like “Take Me Back Home” and “Living To Die,” singer Liv Weiss concocts timeless, deceptively simple melodies and gives them life with a gorgeously evocative half-asleep/half-awake voice. Musically, Bitch Creek shines with Gigi Kliesmet on backup vocals and rhythm guitar, Helena Rose and Molly Korinek on fiddles, Helen Bozic on bass, and Kelsey Kaufmann on drums. Together with Weiss they create a sound both familiar and strange, intimate and distant. How does one make that sound? Well, with love, of course.
There doesn’t seem to be much downtime for BLAX. The veteran Milwaukee hip-hop artist has spent the past 15 years releasing numerous albums, singles, videos, podcasts, and more. Oh, and don’t forget about touring! BLAX—a.k.a. Adebisi Agoro—logged “around 8,000 or so miles I assume” in 2026 touring behind his latest release, Omnipotent Methodology. The generous 16-track record finds the ever-busy artist searching for truth and enlightenment on songs like “Soul(4)caster” and “Oneirology,” and looking back on life and fallen friends on “Young Little Ghetto Boy” and “Take A Picture,” respectively.
Lorna Dune is an electronic artist whose resume goes far beyond synth fiddling. She’s a producer, an educator, and has worked to develop “revolutionary vocal-biofeedback technology for advancing mental health.” Phew. Happily, her music doesn’t require a PhD to enjoy. Mosfet, from February, is Dune’s latest exploration of lush sonic worlds that seem to exist on the precipice of the digital and the analog. “Alverno” pays tribute to Milwaukee’s famed women’s college with sounds of nature mixed with sounds of ones and zeros, while “Void Coefficient” delivers a hypnotic and hopeful vision of the glistening retro-future.
Vacancy Chain – Is This How It’s Supposed To Be?
If you’re looking for a bracing fix of noisy, bouncy, impeccably crafted indie-rock in the vein of Superchunk, look no further than Is This How It’s Supposed To Be? from Milwaukee/Chicago trio Vacancy Chain. The five-track EP is far from a one-trick pony, however: Ashley Altadonna, Michael Agustin, and Emily Agustin are both pissed-off and funny on opener “Halloween Hot Sauce,” downright anthemic on “R.E.V.S.,” and tender and vulnerable on “Memorex” and “Albion.” “Nights in the back bar, riding ’round in my car listening to CDs / Girls Can Tell and Summerteeth,” Altadonna sings on the latter song. That’s some potent (and lovely) indie-millennial nostalgia, folks.
Whitty Remarks – Paltry Sum EP
Twenty-twenty-five’s Nary A Care found Milwaukee musician Travis Whitty grappling with his father’s death, celebrating his father’s life, and navigating the rocky road in between. It was a mostly hushed and reverent collection of gorgeously rendered, 2010s-esque indie-folk; this year’s Paltry Sum EP has a bit more kick to it, but it, too, is a touching tribute, this time to Whitty’s grandparents. That kick is mostly provided by the EPs centerpiece, “Song For Dolores,” a rollicking and gorgeously produced indie-rock anthem inspired by Whitty’s grandmother’s love of gardening. An acoustic version of “Dolores” that closes out the record is just as winning.
TYLER’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE RECORDS OF 2026 (SO FAR)
They say good things come to those who wait. One such good thing is Break Room, the latest and greatest from “landlocked surf-rock” outfit Fellow Kinsman. Originally slated to come out last October, the project was forced to postpone the album’s release until this May. The only impact that had is Break Room is now one of 2026’s best Milwaukee releases instead of being among 2025’s finest. Oh well! The nine-song effort exudes warmth and vibrancy throughout, with bandleader Nate Kinsman leading a persistent charge of swirling, lush, and energetic instrumentation on the outstanding “Love Came Through,” local song of the year contender “Find A Way,” and other well-aged offerings.
Have you ever wondered what a band made up of members with current a former ties to Get Rad, Population Control, Midnight Reruns, Pig’s Blood, and Slow Walker might sound like? Well, you need not wonder any longer because that band is called FORCE, and they rule. The young project—which ably straddles the genres of thrash, throwback heavy metal, and meat-and-potatoes punk—brazenly announced its presence in May with the release of We Carry Heavy Blood. The band’s formal debut features 11 tracks and more than 45 minutes worth of blistering licks, pummeling percussion, charging bass lines, and commanding vocals. It’s all killer, no filler, and an absolute FORCE to be reckoned with.
Hanna Simone is among the city’s busiest musicians at the moment. We suspect having just released one of Milwaukee’s best EPs of this abbreviated year has something to do with that sudden uptick in activity. On Love Letter, Simone channels a wealth of R&B greats with a captivating voice that matches the emotional vulnerability, lyrical depth, and moody production on each of the EP’s six songs. Standouts like “Fighting” and “Red Lips” will have you tapping your feet while you’re in your feelings, and the silky smooth “Too Sweet”—complete with a memorable Emmitt James feature—further cements Love Letter‘s spot on this illustrious list.
During its decade-plus run, Listening Party has played hundreds of shows all around the Upper Midwest. Along the way, the band itself has taken a few different forms, both in terms of its makeup and its overall sound. After paring down to a two-piece for 2023’s Been A Long Time Comin’, the seasoned outfit’s founders Weston Mueller and Jacob Wood brought two new members into the fold for the fifth Listening Party album. That record, High & Low, finds the fleshed out indie-folk vets touching on elements of bluegrass and classic country over eight songs, highlighted by the powerful and downtrodden “Hills & Valleys” and the rowdy, rollicking likes of “KK River Blues.”
While matching the quality and overwhelmingly positive response of 2024’s The Real Truth was a tall order, Maximiano—the eponymous project of singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Maximiano Janairo—was up to the task. Their anticipated follow-up, Rokeby (named after the upstate New York region that helped to inspire the album), was written in the Hudson River Valley during a “10-day dog-sitting gig.” That homespun approach is evident throughout the album’s 10 delicate, folk-forward, and altogether gorgeous tracks. Janairo handles the majority of the vocals and instrumentation in addition to writing, producing, recording, and mixing the material. However, they do get some support from such Milwaukee music mainstays as Ellie Jackson, Old Pup’s Will Hansen, Dandy Freling, Kati Katchever, and Nick Lang along the way.
MATT’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE SONGS OF 2026 (SO FAR)
TYLER’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE SONGS OF 2026 (SO FAR)
Barely Civil – “BANG! SLAM! CRASH!
The Go Homes – “Spill Your Guts”
Wave Chapelle (feat. Hashiem Brown) – “Manifest”
MATT’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE MUSIC VIDEOS OF 2026 (SO FAR)
TYLERS FAVORITE MILWAUKEE MUSIC VIDEOS OF 2026 (SO FAR)
MATT’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE DOUBLE EPs OF 2026 (SO FAR)
Known Moons – Everything Is Beginning To End
What’s better than an EP? How about collecting two EPs into one LP? And what’s better than that? How about two (fantastic) bands doing it in the same year? In 2026, top-shelf indie dream-pop group Known Moons collected 2024’s instant-classic Everything Is with the new Beginning To End to form…Everything Is Beginning To End. (Huh. It’s like the titles were planned or something!) Meanwhile, the aptly named Double EP from unruly doom-folk outfit Resurrectionists begins with the four songs from 2025’s Any Time You Make A Place For Them, and ends with the four tracks from the new Ok, Let’s Play King.
TYLER’S FAVORITE MILWAUKEE ALBUM THAT HASN’T ACTUALLY COME OUT YET BUT HE’S HEARD IT AND IT’S REALLY GOOD OF 2026 (SO FAR)
Milwaukee (by way of Canterbury, England) singer-songwriter Aymen Saleh—who releases music under the Holy Pinto moniker—has been steadily treating listeners to disparate one-off singles and teasing an eventual album since 2022. Well, more than four years later, the time will finally come for that long-awaited record to finally and fully see the light of day. The sprawling and oh-so-ambitious Wedding Season features 18 indie-pop gems that range from touching ballads, songs about love and and settling, interstitial tales of romantic wrongdoings, and even a dash or two of humor. A few songs have been released already, but many have not. We’ve been fortunate enough to get an early listen to the whole tamale and it’s looking likely it’ll earn end-of-year list consideration after it’s officially out in September.
MATT’S FAVORITE LOCAL/LIVE OF 2026 (SO FAR)
The Crosses (Live From Anodyne) – April 7, 2026
What can you say about The Crosses? They rule (Die Kreuzen vocalist Daniel Kubinski and company have been playing DK songs for years), they have a new record of mostly new and original material (Outlier), and their live performance for WMSE’s Local/Live in April was one for the books. It’s always been a personal honor to co-host Local/Live; co-hosting this Local/Live was an absolute blast.
TYLER’S SONG HE CONSIDERED ADDING TO HIS FAVORITE SONGS LIST BUT ULTIMATELY DECIDED AGAINST IT BECAUSE IT’S THE LEAD SINGLE FROM AN ALBUM THAT HASN’T ACTUALLY COME OUT YET OF 2026 (SO FAR)
Josh Evert – “The Sound Of Machines”
Without getting too far ahead of things, I’ll just say there’s a definite chance Josh Evert’s forthcoming album, Photogenic Memory, winds up on the final “favorite Milwaukee music of 2026” list once December rolls around. I say that because one of the two songs the Silver City Studios owner and longtime member of The Fatty Acids has released as singles in advance of the record’s late summer release just so happens to be on the short list of my favorite local songs put out in the first half of the year. “The Sound Of Machines” is so good and wholly unlike anything else we’ve previously featured, but we’ll just put it here for now and find a permanent spot for Evert (if the chips fall that way) at the end of 2026.
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