sleepcomesdown - Vapor Kicks

Drawing influence from the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Deerhunter, Sonic Youth, and Animal Collective sleepcomesdown presents a unique sound in the Milwaukee scene.  With influences like these it is no wonder their live performances consist of an absolute wall of sound made up of fuzzy guitars, synths, and various other reverb producing gadgets.   What is surprising is their ability to avoid pretension while flawlessly combining these various influences.

D.I.Y. to the core; you won't find sleepcomesdown on a major label.  You will however, find them booking their own shows, screen printing their own artwork, and even building their own practice space.   They are prolific performers (as I've stated in earlier posts), jamming as much sound and lights into a set as possible.  They are big budget sound for the basement show price.

So check these guys out if you like shoegaze, or post punk, or noise, or if you simply like a bunch of guys playing music for the right reasons.

Try

Seriously buy this

-Jim

Zola Jesus - The Spoils

 

Zola Jesus is a beautiful woman from Madison, Wisconsin making beautiful music.  The Spoils is an exercise of texture and mood creating an unsettling beautiful sound out of fuzzy synths, a hammering piano, and a drum machine.  Her classically trained voice floats angelically over the comparably uglier, more industrial noise her band creates.  Her songs build slowly adding layers of noise and wailing vocals until they reach an urgent apex, making the album an adventure you want to re-experience as soon as you are done.

As usual I am struggling to properly describe how amazing the work actually is.  So check it out now, as Zola Jesus is sure to take off soon.  With her internet hype building and a favorable score from Pitchforks you will most certainly be hearing more from this Madison artist.  She's currently touring the midwest, with more American dates to follow this spring (including SXSW).  So get out and see her live.  I'm willing to bet you won't be disappointed.

Download

Myspace 

-Jim

Another Cool Show at the Eagle's Nest

I saw some Sunday Night goodness last night at the Eagle's Nest.

Myspace

The night started off with Maidens, a post-metal band which draws influence from Russian Circles.  It definitely has that Suffocate for Fuck Sake feel with heavy riffs and special attention to atmosphere.  Really heavy and really good.  Keep a look out for these Milwaukee area guys as they have just begun, but are already producing some pretty impressive work.

Myspace 

Next up was Parrhesia, a grind band from chicago.  Going into the show I had a very rudimentary idea of what grind is, having only heard studio recorded work in the genre.  Before the show I was very unimpressed, but I quickly found this is definitely a style of music you need to see live.  After some technical difficulties (which merely added to my anticipation) this band began to attack their instruments, themselves, and the crowd.  I experienced pure discomfort as I wasn't really sure if they were going to harm the crowd, themselves or my ear drums.  It was surprisingly enjoyable and liberating.  Check these guys out live if you can.

Myspace 

If you have been reading the blog you would know I tried to see Grown Ups earlier this month at Strangelight.  Unfortunately a speeding ticket and questionable navigation caused me to miss Grown Ups.  I wasn't too bummed however, because I knew I had another chance to see them.  This was my chance and they were everything I hoped for.  That pop-punk/emo sound I fell in love with on their studio album Songs translated quite nicely live.  Their energy and sound last night would have definitely made the Kinsella brothers proud.  I also purchased their last copy of their EP ever (hipster victory!).  It was the last night of their tour with Antilles who played next.

 

Myspace 

Antilles from Ohio had been touring with Grown Ups since the night after the Strangelight show, but they didn't let it show.  They didn't even want to stop playing.  These guys brought some serious energy and some humor.  Punk to the core, their intricate guitar work left my ears ringing.  Very awesome.

 

Myspace 

The night wrapped up with a band that is slowly becoming one of my favorites in Milwaukee, Absolutely.  As usual their luscious locks and mathy riffs blew me away.  If you live in Wisconsin you have to check these guys out.

Lotus Land Records on Friday

Saw a pretty good local show at the newly opened Lotus Land.  It was another well set up DIY show.  Here's who we saw:

Myspace 

White Problems- Fun band making fun music.  Think DFA1979. 

Myspace
Brief Candles- Technically sound indie rock with female lead vocals

 

 Myspace

sleepcomesdown- These guys blew me away.  They are everything you want in a shoegaze band and more.  I was totally taken aback at the amount of beautiful sound they could create. The streaming music on their myspace doesn't even begin to do their live sound justice.  If you are able I would definitely recommend seeing this sometimes haunting, but always powerful sounding band.  They also have some pretty nifty lights, which may be a plus for all I know.  I'm going to be ordering their full length soon, so expect another post on these guys.

Myspace
John The Savage- I was lucky enough to see a Milwaukee staple,  John The Savage.  They are well known in the area for great live shows and fun music.  They certainly lived up to that Friday.  Their set was an hour long dance party.  These guys take the attitude of Modest Mouse, the crazy big sound instrumentation of Arcade Fire, and vocals reminiscent of early Flogging Molly and create something that is absolutely infectiously enjoyable.

Absolutely also played during the course of the night.  Unfortunately I can't find their Myspace.  They play some pretty killer post-hardcore.  If anyone who reads this can point me to their Myspace please do (does anyone read this?)

edit: Found their Myspace

 

Myspace 

Come back tomorrow and I will share some music!

I'm going to a cool concert tonight.

I'm seeing Algernon Cadwallader (pronounced al-jur-non kal-wall-uh-dur), Grown Ups, 1994, and Castevet tonight at Warbux/Strangelight in Chicago!

Here are some links:

Algernon Cadwallader - Some Kind of Cadwallader

Grown Ups - Songs (I'm most excited for these guys)

This is a 1994/Spires split

Chicago's own Castevet

Oh and if you don't feel like making the trip to Chicago, check out 14th Century Explorers (you may know them as Cider Cloud) playing at the Cactus Club in Milwaukee.  They are coming out with an EP soon so stay tuned.

Check out their Myspace