It’s another busy Friday in Milwaukee music. We’ve already told you about the Joe Wais EP. We’ve already told you about the new Tigernite song/video. But there’s more! Plenty more!
Let’s start with the long-awaited new solo album from Josh Evert, Photogenic Memory. Evert is best known for his years spent as the singer-songwriter of legendary Milwaukee “scramble-pop” group The Fatty Acids (oh hey, they’re reuniting this weekend!) as well as his more recent production work at Silver City Studios. But with Photogenic Memory, Evert solidifies his stature as one of the city’s most inventive solo artists. The 13-track record is full of widescreen, experimental, maximalist electro-pop. Tracks like the bubbly “The Sound Of Machines” and the glitchy “Uncle Sam’s Club For The Agoraphobic” will be instantly embraced by Fatty fans, while more sprawling songs like the lovely “Youthful Bliss” extend Evert’s sound to the sky and beyond.
“Photogenic Memory explores how personal and collective histories are softened, distorted, and re-presented, whether in intimate relationships or in broader societal narratives,” press materials for the record explain. All that’s missing from those materials is “Milwaukee album of the year.”
Next up is Don’t Fail Me Now, the full-length debut from Fellow Travelers. Like Evert, the frontman of Fellow Travelers cut his teeth in another beloved Milwaukee band. Max Niemann’s work with Diet Lite has already defined Milwaukee’s post-COVID indie-rock scene; with Fellow Travelers, Niemann stakes out a Midwestern country-rock sound indebted to both modern alt-country and the old-school likes of Young, Dylan, and more. Don’t Fail Me Now opens with the irresistibly twangy “Behold,” kicks things into high gear with the giddy “Sad & Lonesome,” and culminates in the expansive and kitchen-sink “Nowhere You Am II.” Niemann’s voice—wonderfully nasally and expressive—is the highlight throughout. Another contender for Milwaukee album of the year. (Oh, and it was mastered by…Josh Evert!)
Finally, we have a song released earlier in the week from the always fantastic Ellie Jackson. “Time Is Like Taffy” is from Jackson’s upcoming full-length Stay Soft, due October 1. Like previously released singles “American Dream” and “Into The Blue,” it features a murderers’ row of Milwaukee musicians (Caley Conway, Barry Paul Clark, Devin Drobka, Andrew Koenig, and, yep, Josh Evert) crafting a crunchy full-band backdrop for Jackson’s conversational and vulnerable songs. “I don’t want to watch my own back anymore,” she sings before capping the song with “I’m. So. Tired.” Mark your calendars for October 1.
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