In MKE Music Rewind we revisit notable Milwaukee music that was released before Milwaukee Record became a thing in April 2014. This week: Hero Of A Hundred Fights’ “You, Me, The Switch.”
There has never been a better time to be a fan of late ’90s and early aughts Milwaukee-made math rock and post-punk. (Well, besides the late ’90s and early aughts, I suppose.) Between the cyclical nature of music that tends to bring certain sounds back into circulation every 20 years or so and the passion of some local music fans-turned-niche label purveyors, we’ve been fortunate lately to be able to hear local music we’ve loved and appreciated for decades in new ways.
In the last year alone, Murder In The Red Barn pressed much of its long out of print material to two vinyl releases, Tintoretto rerecorded its entire catalog to be released on wax for the first time ever, and Joe Wong’s former band Akarso finally got the vinyl treatment, too. Meanwhile, modern Milwaukee projects like Denude—which feature former members of bands from that era/scene—are breathing new life into this super-specific bygone sound. Yes, it’s a very good time to be a fan of Upper Midwest math rock from approximately a quarter century ago, but at the risk of looking a gift horse in the mouth, it could get even better.
Call me contrarian, but my personal high watermark for Milwaukee-area math rock is none other than Hero Of A Hundred Fights. And at the risk of sounding even more annoyingly particular, that standout band’s undisputed best work comes in the form of two songs that only appeared on a regional compilation album released at the midway point of Hero’s frustratingly brief existence. Before we get into those songs, allow me to get you up to speed on this short-lived band composed of ingredients from better-known and more celebrated projects with this abridged and loosely researched history lesson.
Hero Of A Hundred Fights formed in the late ’90s. The quartet featured members with former or concurrent ties to area outfits like Brass Knuckles For Tough Guys, Managra, and the aforementioned Tintoretto. The band released its debut album, a self-titled effort with eight songs and a runtime of about half an hour, in 1999. It was raw, rough around the edges and very “of-its-time” in terms of coarse vocals and questionable mixing and mastering decisions, but it’s still a very solid and compelling introduction to a band with better things in its future.
In 2001, Hero chased that first record with a chaotic, high-energy, and borderline visceral EP entitled The Remote, The Cold. It showed a definite sonic and songwriting evolution compared to its predecessor, and it hinted at even more promising things ahead. Sadly, that four-track EP would be the end of the road for a band that burned bright and, true to its name, punched well above its weight during its limited lifespan. Okay, now you’re all caught up.
So in the single year that sat between its encouraging outset and its impressive swan song, Hero Of A Hundred Fights released its absolute best material on a compilation for bassist Chris Grove’s 404 Records label that featured four projects—many of which had considerable member overlap with one another—from four southeastern Wisconsin locales. Before Managra, Insidious, and Tintoretto got their turn on A Four Way Stop, Hero Of A Hundred Fights set the tone with two songs that I still think are incredible and unlike anything I’ve heard come out of Milwaukee.
Over the span of just over 15 minutes, the band happened upon a sort of magic they’d never conjured before and would never quite duplicate after. While compilation kickoff “Shudder The Lights Off” is tremendous in its own right, it really doesn’t get any better than “You, Me, The Switch,” as far as I’m concerned. The song begins with a moody guitar lick that repeats dozens upon dozens of times, yet evades monotony by being flanked with walking bass lines, jazzy percussion you’d never expect to hear in a basement or VFW Hall show, and countless time changes.
The time signature augmentations aren’t the only noticeable shifts evident in the over-eight-minute offering. There are also numerous tonal adjustments along the way. Inventive math rock is carefully deconstructed into understated emo, which makes room for sizable purely instrumental segments. Both the guitar riffs and lyrics are repeated until they swell enough to be enveloped into heavy and explosive crescendos. And before its all over, the band returns to its origin point to end the altogether exceptional song the exact same way it started.
While hearing what Hero Of A Hundred Fights was truly capable of makes me retroactively—to be clear, I was a teenager living 100 miles away, so I didn’t hear these songs until mid-2003—wonder what could’ve been if the band kept going, the laundry list of excellent acts that came after Hero’s demise makes the loss more-than palatable. The project’s end would make way for members to start iconic aural endeavors like Call Me Lightning, Temper Temper, Murder In The Red Barn, Haymarket Riot, and Centipedes.
So in the end, maybe it’s better that Hero Of A Hundred Fights burned its brightest on “You, Me, The Switch,” before fading away to make way for other accomplished associated acts. All that being said, while the math rock reissue boom is still upon us, I wouldn’t hate A Four Way Stop vinyl release. I’m just putting it out into the universe!