As Milwaukee’s music scene continues to strengthen and unify, we’re seeing more instances of local artists covering, remixing, and otherwise re-imagining each other’s material. Just a few semi-recent examples that come to mind include: the Utah Cloud Dramatic Lovers remix EP, the Galápados Paper Holland remix record, and the Unrestrained EP of Convert remixes. This growing local music phenomenon is weird, it’s cool, and it almost always yields unexpectedly awesome results. Even though remix records are becoming more common locally, we’ve recently learned of a pairing we never would’ve anticipated.
You might not believe it, but Combustor—a Milwaukee rock project that features members of The Haskels, The Ones, and The Dominoes in its ranks—and burgeoning local producer Tron Jovi (Diamond Life, Guerrilla Ghost) are co-releasing an EP on Friday, June 14. That release, entitled Bent & Snapped: Tron Jovi Remixes, showcases Combuster as you’ve never heard them before, with the band’s punk-tinged material being twisted and augmented to take new shape in a completely different corner of the sonic spectrum.
Over the course of six tracks, Tron Jovi uses aspects of a half-dozen Combuster songs—primarily the vocals of Clancy Carroll—as the foundation for redressed material that touches the edges of hip-hop, dub, and industrial. Along the way, layers of the straightforward source material are stripped away, timing is adjusted, new effects and blasting bass beats are applied, and Carroll’s role seamlessly shifts from that of a punk rock frontman to an unexpected rapper. We could try to explain it in greater detail, but you’re probably just better off just listening for yourself and hearing some of the city’s scene vets as you’ve never heard them before.
If you like what you hear, Bent & Snapped: Tron Jovi Remixes will be available in CD and digital formats as a co-release on Tron Jovi’s Triple Eye Industries label and Carroll’s Splunge Communication Inc. imprint starting Friday, June 14.