Music

Whenever life gets you down, just remember there’s a “Karma Chameleon” parody called “I’m A Milwaukeean”

July 26, 2017

In Monty Python's "Galaxy Song," a ditty from the group's 1983 film The Meaning Of Life, Eric Idle offers this bit of existential comfort food:Whenever life gets you down, Mrs. Brown And things seem hard o...

Get ready for Triple Eye Industries Fest 2, stream the ‘Vinyl Noise Beer Vol. 2’ comp

Tyler Maas

July 26, 2017

As Milwaukee prepares to say goodbye to July, the city has already said farewell to a wide variety of festivals, block parties, and a number of other celebrations that help make summer here special. After Germa...

Returning to Warped Tour after 15 years away

Tyler Maas

July 25, 2017

On July 27, 2002, I attended the first and only Van's Warped Tour of my life. The show, which took place at the Tweeter Center in the Chicago suburb of Tinley Park, boasted dozens of popular punk, ska, and hard...

You didn’t need to understand Gin Blossoms’ Festa Italiana appearance to enjoy it

Tyler Maas

July 24, 2017

Last Friday, BoDeans headlined Festa Italiana's opening night. With no discernible Italian connection, the performance would've seemed strange if not for the band's Milwaukee roots. The following night's Calyps...

Hawthorne Heights will play a show at The Garage next week

Tyler Maas

July 21, 2017

Today, Milwaukee Record—the publication who brought you news about Public Enemy performing at Red Dot in Wauwatosa, 2 Live Crew playing at Silk Exotic, 50 Cent hocking vodka at the Oak Creek Woodman's, and Bubb...

Guns N’ Fucking Roses will play BMO Harris Bradley Center November 7

Matt Wild

July 21, 2017

Every Friday, Off The Record looks to other Milwaukee publications (and beyond) for bits of news we missed throughout the week.• You know where Guns N' Fucking Roses are going to be Tuesday, November 7? The...

Remembering Phish’s infamous “O.J. Show” at The Rave

Chris Lay

July 20, 2017

This article was originally published in 2017.June 17, 1994. It's a date that never quite got the same temporal recognition as, say, September 11, 2001, or December 7, 1941, but many Americans will remember...

Settle in and enjoy The Directionals’ new 17-minute song/video, “Vashta Nerada”

Matt Wild

July 20, 2017

The ideal length for a pop song is somewhere in the neighborhood of three minutes. Why? Well, it's complicated. (Wired looks at the reasons behind the standard here.) And while extremely short or extremely long...

GGOOLLDD is playing the fucking Catalina Wine Mixer

Tyler Maas

July 20, 2017

Since GGOOLLDD up and moved to Appleton in spring, the electro-pop project has been occupied with a steady diet of out-of-town gigs, lucrative festival slots, and working hard to write and record new material. ...

Milwaukee rock duo form The Crystal Gayles, pen song for down-on-her-luck country star

Matt Wild

July 18, 2017

It's the middle of the afternoon at an East Side hair salon and a member of Pet Engine, Stephen Ziel, is getting his hair cut by a former member of The Lovelies, Liv Mueller. Moments ago, Violent Femmes bassist...

A day-by-day Milwaukee guide to Mile Of Music

Tyler Maas

July 18, 2017

From August 3-6, close to 20 Milwaukee (or Milwaukee-adjacent) bands and solo artists will make the 100-mile trek north on US 41—or I-43, if they want to take the scenic route—to partake in the fifth annual Mil...

The Guess Who brings classic rock to Fontana, Wisconsin

Lauren Keene

July 17, 2017

It's hard to imagine that legendary rock critic Lester Bangs would be hanging out with 15-year-old kids and encouraging them to write for Rolling Stone and follow a fictional band obviously inspired by Led Zepp...

Stream the anthemic, excellent debut from Kate Moths, ‘Reverse Earth After Birth’

Matt Wild

July 14, 2017

Listen hard enough and you can hear the heart of '90s midwest emo still beating in Milwaukee. It lives on in newer bands like Estates, and veteran bands like Maritime. Now, add the perfectly monikered Kate Moth...

Midwives singer discusses origin, aspirations of Holy Family Players Theatre label

Dan Agacki

July 13, 2017

Industry insiders will tell you that the music industry is as good as dead. Physical media: Dead. Record labels: Bordering on obsolete. It’s in this climate that Midwives vocalist Shaun Stacey decided to start ...

The best Milwaukee albums of 2017 (so far)

Milwaukee Record Staff

July 12, 2017

Believe it or not (we choose not), 2017 is more than halfway over. Summer may have just begun and winter may seem like a distant nightmare, but the fact remains that the year is currently on the downward slide....

I’m Not A Pilot is breaking up

Tyler Maas

July 12, 2017

Somehow in all the Summerfest and Fourth of July-adjacent activity, we missed a bit of unfortunate news. Classically-influenced indie rock outfit I'm Not A Pilot will call it quits following a farewell show in ...

The Shins brought Summerfest 50 to a close and it was kind of perfect

Matt Wild

July 10, 2017

There's something bittersweet about the final day of Summerfest. Vendors are packing away mountains of fresh roasted nuts, patrons are desperately stumbling around like its closing time, and the final serviceab...

Nelson, Dylan, Crow, more bring wild-and-wooly Outlaw Music Festival to Summerfest

Cal Roach

July 10, 2017

With Summerfest trying to brand itself a "national" music festival, allow us to point out a few differences that separate the Big Gig from all of its ostensible counterparts:relatively clean, plentiful re...

Here’s the lineup for Triple Eye Industries Fest 2

Tyler Maas

July 10, 2017

Today, in the era of Name-Your-Price digital downloads, 99 cent iTunes singles, and abject saturation in the music industry, owning a record label isn’t exactly the glamorous and financially lucrative endeavor ...

Huey Lewis And The News enchant Summerfest fans with timeless talent and charisma

Lauren Keene

July 8, 2017

For its 50th edition, Summerfest treated music history nerds to a mini museum located inside the festival grounds. The Summerfest 50 historical exhibit is jam-packed with fun facts about the festival's longtime...