Old(er) punks don't fade away; they just learn to play their instruments

The C Sides

Yes, it's really been two months since I checked in here. Frankly, I was done with the Wisconsin cold. I tried everything: I went and saw a scorching show at the Circle A, featuring the always hot Silk Torpedo, bombing us with a setlist of 70s era glam that made me glad I braved the sub zero temperatures to leave the comfort of my warm house and its perpetually running Star Trek (TOS) reruns. (It was the "Spock's Brain" episode that pushed me out the door.) The next day I trudged out to the South Shore Park Pavilion to see the Honolulu Millionaires, another Ted Jorin outfit, this time with colorful animatronic parrots "singing" along to their ballads and songs. It was a weird event: it felt like an indoor church festival, with people playing board games across long tables in place of Bingo, topped off by this tropical band playing Hawaiian songs in the dead of Wisconsin winter. I need to see them in their regular haunt, Trader Nick's South Shore Inn.

So what else could I do? I  up and flew out to the West Coast, where I saw gorgeous scenery, fascinating museums, hilarious comedy, and good friends. I did not go and see any bands.  I can see plenty of excellent music right here in Wisconsin; I have to admit that the LA scene never really grabbed me that hard and I wasn't going to be able to survey it in the short time I was there anyway.

And so when I returned to the frozen tundra, I headed out to stuff myself at the annual WMSE Rockabilly Chilli fundraiser, with favorites the Dick Satan Trio providing the music, and that got me primed for a pile of good ol' midwestern punk at Garibaldi last Saturday night.

Except that when somebody says punk, you think three chord anthems by tight outfits that don't necessarily get complex. No, all four bands were comprised of older people, people who had been playing long enough that they really knew their way around their fretboards and weren't afraid to go there. The C-Sides, a band out of Lake County  IL set the tone for the night: pop punk "with an actual lead guitar," I'd written in my notebook. Just when I put it away, they turned around and morphed into some speedpunk with a little Illinois cowpunk thrown in for flavor. If they come back to Milwaukee, I'll be back to see them, but when they do, they should have some recorded material to pick up like the other bands on the bill did.

The Hullmen were up next, and their garage band sounds that I love and take for granted. Maybe it's because I was still happy from the Silk Torpedo set, but I thought I head them getting a little glammy in there as well -- the Iggy Pop style melody lines were coming through strong. As a great garage band does, they vary their approach toward melody and rhythm, but what doesn't vary is the intensity. They've been playing a lot lately to promote their latest EP, and in fact, I'll be catching them again later this month when they're on a bill with a favorite from last year's Bay View Bash, King Eye and the Squirts.

So then we had the Slurs, who ambled on stage, local swill in hand and accompanying MilwaukeeCore attitude and proceeded to kick out the jams. The sloppy IDGAF look and attitude belies obvious musical competence and a few songs into the set, I'm suddenly thinking, "what is this, I know this song...." and sure enough, they get to the chorus again of "I Wanna Destroy You" and a big smile crosses my face: "OMG they're covering the Soft Boys!" (and anybody who's known me for more than twenty minutes knows that if you want to start a conversation with me, musically or otherwise, you can't go wrong referencing Robyn Hitchcock). Lead singer CJ Olson holds up an ever present PBR like it's the Eucharist and the rest of the band hangs on tightly. My only advice to them would be to cop a line from the Hullmen and vary the tone a little more: a full set of their onslaught could use a little rhythmic shifting.

The opposite could be said for the last band, Under Hoan, who were so varied in tone, melody, approach, look and attitude that I frankly didn't know what to make of them. Like the other bands on the bill, this is clearly a bunch of guys who not only know how to play their instruments, but have also listened to (and liked) a wide variety of music and this comes out in their offering. They've got a strutting metal shredder on guitar, and a snotty punk on vocals. They open their set with flashing colorful lights like they were a hair band, and they have tight, snappy songs like a good pop band. Their logo is in a font that implies that they're roots or country rock. Maybe their name is the clue: underneath the Hoan Bridge is the Summerfest grounds, and watching them I felt like I was walking from stage to stage, checking out all the different music.

But now that the weather's getting warmer, it seems like bands are coming out of the woodwork. The Best Westerns are hitting the Circle A Friday night for some true Western Swing, (after of course, I support our city's Taco Trucks).  The Grovelers, with Lack of Reason and Certain Stars are at Landmark Lanes, and on Sunday, JP Cyr and the Midnightmen are letting their country/Americana set the stage for an Italian group called the Don Diego Trio at the Pabst Brewery/Taproom. Should be a good start to a much anticipated spring season.