Author Cal Roach

Moon Curse transcends stoner rock with ‘The Spirit Remains’

November 27, 2015

When stoner rock first bubbled up in the ’90s, it basically stood for Black Sabbath-worship. It was retro by definition and seemed like an untenable fad. Who could’ve guessed it would outlast grunge? As its roo...

MFF2015 Day 8: ‘The Winding Stream,’ ‘We Come As Friends,’ ‘They Have Escaped’

Cal Roach

October 1, 2015

The 2015 Milwaukee Film Festival runs Thursday, September 24 through Thursday, October 8. Check out our list of 13 reasons to get excited for the fest here. If you’re looking for daily recommendations and/or wh...

MFF2015 Day 5: ‘Uncertain,’ ‘Call Me Lucky,’ ‘Black Panthers,’ ‘Theory Of Obscurity’

Cal Roach

September 28, 2015

MFF2015 Day 4: ‘Jaws,’ virtual reality panel, ‘Safety Last!,’ The Milwaukee Show I

Cal Roach

September 27, 2015

Zebras complete doom-metal transformation on ‘The City Of Sun’

Cal Roach

September 22, 2015

// There’s a virtually unavoidable trajectory for punk and metal bands: start out as noisy and abrasive as possible and get increasingly melodic and mellow as you age and/or learn to write catchy songs. Zebra...

Primus and Dinosaur Jr. bring double dose of ’90s alt-rock to The Rave

Cal Roach

August 7, 2015

Primus frontman Les Claypool isn’t the type of guy who caters to his fans. He does whatever the hell he wants, and his core cult of diehards doggedly follows, because he is probably the greatest living bass gui...

Eaux Claires festival celebrates Midwest music, points to something greater

Cal Roach

July 20, 2015

The organizers of the inaugural Eaux Claires festival did their homework. The first year of a large-scale event like this is usually a logistical nightmare; who could forget the 12-hour interstate backup welcom...

Tame Impala makes good on Riverside Theater sellout

Cal Roach

May 15, 2015

Tame Impala’s last visit to Milwaukee was for a very-sold-out performance at Turner Hall just over two years ago. The band was riding high on widespread accolades for its second LP, Lonerism, and as a live unit...

Milwaukee Psych Fest returns to Cactus Club, brings Feck out of retirement

Cal Roach

May 13, 2015

Like most pop culture terminology, the meaning of “psychedelic” has changed over the years. As a description of music, it entered the lexicon a half-century ago as a drug reference. Nowadays, it might have no c...

Sufjan Stevens faces death, finds life at Riverside Theater

Cal Roach

April 24, 2015

In a move that surprised no one, Sufjan Stevens followed up his Crazy Experimental Album (2010’s The Age Of Adz) with a Stripped-Down, Back-To-Basics Album (Carrie & Lowell, released a few weeks ago). The n...

Poliça debuts new songs, kicks off 2015 tour at Cactus Club

Cal Roach

April 8, 2015

When Poliça played Turner Hall three years ago, it was still basically a popular novelty band: two drummers and charismatic lead singer Channy Leaneagh, whose trademark was everyone’s favorite vocal effect, Aut...

TV On The Radio dials up powerhouse performance at Pabst Theater

Cal Roach

March 25, 2015

Spring in Milwaukee is looking like OG Pitchfork heaven, as the hippest acts from the turn of the millennium are due to parade through the Pabst Theater collective. Heading off The Decemberists, Sufjan Stevens,...

Exclusive: Listen to Midwives’ brief, blistering self-titled LP

Cal Roach

February 17, 2015

For their third release in under a year, Midwives don’t go with a radically different formula, but this self-titled LP still feels like a significant step forward for the band’s sound. In terms of two-minute ha...

Sleater-Kinney keeps sold-out Riverside Theater on its feet

Cal Roach

February 16, 2015

Milwaukee Gen-Xers had two options for making themselves feel old Sunday night: SNL 40, or the Sleater-Kinney reunion tour, which made its stop at the Riverside Theater. The Washington trio released its comebac...

Painted Caves learn to trust their instincts after life-altering trip to India

Cal Roach

February 4, 2015

Remember last November, that initial bitter cold attack of winter? That was about the time the members of Milwaukee’s Painted Caves hopped on a plane, flew to India, and headlined an outdoor music festival in t...

Wilco refuses to play it safe for 20th anniversary show at Riverside Theater

Cal Roach

December 4, 2014

A 20th anniversary tour could be considered a victory lap; any band that makes it through two decades deserves to trot lazily around the country playing the hits. That’s not Wilco’s style, though. The band just...

Ryan Adams captivates crowd, serenades security guard at Riverside Theater

Cal Roach

October 15, 2014

If your first impression of Ryan Adams’ new self-titled album is that it sounds more like Bryan Adams than usual, you’re not alone: the younger, hipper Adams has taken to covering Bryan’s “Run To You” on his cu...

Stop Making Sense, Take Me To The River, and the long, strange career of Jerry Harrison

Cal Roach

October 2, 2014

Anyone who attended last year’s Milwaukee Film Festival screening of the brilliant Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense will tell you it’s hard to have more fun in a movie theater. Attendees danced spon...

MFF2014: Alloy Orchestra breathes sonic life into Man With A Movie Camera

Cal Roach

October 1, 2014

Last year’s Milwaukee Film Festival brought us the once-in-a-lifetime event that was Altos: Earth, featuring the local group performing a live, original score to Alexander Dovzhenko’s silent Soviet classic. Cam...

Aaron Freeman leaves Ween behind at Turner Hall

Cal Roach

September 26, 2014

One could almost look at Aaron Freeman in child-star terms. The erstwhile Gene Ween began making prank music with partner Mickey Melchiondo (a.k.a. Dean Ween) in eighth grade, eventually scoring a novelty hit w...