When we last spoke to Kevin DeMars, he’d set aside his drum kit to man guitar duties for Milwaukee rock trio Stock Options. Unbeknownst to us at the time, DeMars hadn’t cast off his drum kit completely. Early this year, DeMars’ other band, Lamb’s Legs, began playing shows. Fewer than a dozen shows in, the dark punk band with roots in such notable Milwaukee acts as the aforementioned Stock Options, Disguised As Birds, Mother Orchis, Bored Straight and Spur has already put out a cassette – selling more than 120 copies – and is finding its way onto bills with touring acts, including a pair of shows in the next three days.
Before DeMars and company adds to their show total, Music Notes spoke with the Lamb’s Legs drummer about the new (to us) project.
How did Lamb’s Legs get its start and how has it differed from your other bands?
Different folks, and they’re all genuine dudes. Jeb [Ebben, guitar] had been looking for someone to drum, and we had been talking back and forth for a bit. He proposed the idea of our friend Bjorn singing. He’d never actually sang in a band, and we thought it was a really good idea to give him a shot because we didn’t really want to do anything that had been done before. He’s pretty well read and a pretty charismatic guy, so we thought it’d be different and fun.
What are some influences or bands others have likened you to?
I kind of hear The Birthday Party a lot, due to Bjorn [Severtson]’s being kind of obsessed with Nick Cave. The Fall, a little bit. Our bass player has been in mostly hardcore bands, so that helped that angle a lot. Whatever kind of stuff is listed on our Bandcamp or Facebook is a pretty good representation, I think.
How have you been getting on shows with out-of-towners so early on?
It’s not really anything we do. The one [today], Brian Rodgers set up from California because he likes Child Bite, and he said he’d help them with Milwaukee.
Why did you choose to go the cassette tape route instead of a disc or a vinyl release?
We recorded [Drinks Bats Milk] when we’d only played a show or two. I thought it was really just a demo, and didn’t really put much thought into it. We recorded it in our practice space. This is the best of what we have now. We’re going to just take it slow before recording anything else. We have this recording because we thought it was about time.
What are some aspirations or what’s your aim?
Just getting together with a different group of people and coming up with whatever we come up with and playing out. Just having a good time and hoping it’s different from whatever we’d done in bands before.
Lamb’s Legs plays with Child Bite (Detroit) and Fahri at Cactus Club at 10 p.m. tonight and with Ed Schrader’s Music Beat (Baltimore) and Honey, Get The Gun! at Quarter’s Rock ‘n Roll Palace at 9 p.m. Saturday. Listen to or purchase the six-song, limited edition Lamb’s Legs demo at the band’s website.
