The holiday season always seems to have a way of sneaking up on you. One minute you’re passed out on the couch in a tryptophan-induced coma, the next you’re passed out on the floor in an eggnog-induced coma. Well, if you still need gift ideas for a few of the more difficult names on your list this year, don’t panic! Let Music Notes ease your burden by matching up some of the best local albums released in 2011 with those hard-to-buy-for friends and family.
For that metal head in your life – Clandestine Abuse by Northless
Northless had a big year. Milwaukee’s premier metal band maintained a steady local show schedule, it embarked on a couple mini tours, it garnered attention for a few respected national outlets, and the band even managed to inspire a NORTHLESS burger at popular Chicago beef joint Kuma’s Corner. Much of Northless’ newfound acclaim came thanks to its 2011 full-length Clandestine Abuse. Released in March, the brutal onslaught of doom encased in the 54-minute effort serves to tout Northless as more than just another loud metal outfit. Make no mistake, Northless is among the loudest bands in the state, but Clandestine Abuse highlights the band’s intricate songwriting and ability to grant the listener temporary refuge amid some of the most devastating stuff I’ve heard in a long time, possibly ever. – TM
For the person who doesn’t have time for local bands – Human Hearts by Maritime
Some foolish souls out there regard “local” bands to imply “amateur” and “unsuccessful” bands, forgetting that every band on Earth is a local somewhere. Our own Maritime—of noteworthy Los Angeles label Dangerbird Records and including former members of The Promise Ring fame—and its almost flawless collection of sing-a-longable alt-rock songs populating the entirety of its latest, Human Hearts, could just be the gateway substance needed to invite in a flurry of other great (but usually not as great) Milwaukee music into the ears of that special judgmental dick in your life. The quick-fire 10-song stroll brings about Maritime’s most ambitious and—at least we think—best album yet. – TM
For the people who regularly read this site and, for some inexplicable reason, still haven’t been convinced to listen to The Fatty Acids – Leftover Monsterface by The Fatty Acids
Shortly before Music Notes began its slow transition into a fan site for The Fatty Acids that occasionally mentioned other stuff, the band was hole up in a Riverwest basement, hard at work self-recording its second album. The product, the astounding Leftover Monsterface, shows that TFA is so much more than an elaborate vehicle for filming funny music videos and messing around with drum machines. Monsterface yields a thick, layered and raw Acids capable of, at times, captivating listeners with sad brass and careful harmonies employed in such songs as “Creature” and “Football Team,” only to grant them playful and poppy reprieve when the likes of “Feathers, Beaks and Gills” and “Argentinean Mistresses” come on. Best yet, the album can be had for whatever price you wish to pay, including free. – TM
The Fatty Acids from From Milwaukee on Vimeo.
For almost anyone else on your list – Surgeons In Heat by Surgeons In Heat
In April we devoted a third of a post to reviewing the self-titled debut EP from Milwaukee by-way of Madison by-way of Milwaukee by-way of Neenah power pop project Surgeons In Heat. At times, the six-song introduction was airy and listless, but songs like the boisterous “I Wanna Get Up” showed an energetic side of this laid back EP. A steady diet of catchy vocal melodies and a liberal-while-effective falsetto bridged the gaps and all but guarantees SIH’s forthcoming full-length will find a spot on next year’s list. – TM
For your friend who thinks instrumental bands are boring – GIVING by Collections of Colonies of Bees
Collections of Colonies of Bees have been the city’s unmatched masters of the instrumental eargasm for more than a decade, even though they can take their time between releases. But absence makes the heart grow fonder, and the three years and various side projects that have come and gone since the band’s last release have had a thrilling impact on the overall sound. The euphoric highs are still in full effect, but perhaps the thing that makes this particular album so damn enjoyable is the absence of lows. This is not your typical slow-build, tension-and-release type instrumental album. “Lawn” attacks you right out of the gates and builds from there with an unrelenting energy that sustains throughout this gem. – KK
For your Decibully-loving writing partner – Decibully by Decibully
Although my Music Notes partner-in-crime’s fancies have drifted of late to younger, Fattier pastures, his heart will always belong to Decibully. The members of the now-defunct king of dirty indie rock have decided to go their separate ways and pursue their various side projects and lives, but they left us with one last eponymous treat. Released solely online as a name-your-price downloadable album, Decibully is unlike anything the band had released during their storied run. The album is dark and full of foreshadowed doom in lyrical content, but light in its delivery. Upbeat, raw and uninhibited, the final album from Decibully came the closest the band ever did to capturing its unmatched live show on record. – KK
For your friend who still thinks instrumental bands are boring – Challenger EP by Canyons of Static
It is the year of the instrumental band for me, as another Milwaukee release impressed the hell out of me without the aide of a singer. Canyons of Static elbowed its way onto the crowded instrumental metal bandwagon and then kicked out the passenger-side window to get some air. And it is the air, the trippy ambient builds that slowly burn down before giving way to the torrents of distorted guitars and chest-pounding drums, that make this band and album worth a listen. There are only four songs here, but with track times stretching out to 10:29, there’s plenty of metal melody and mayhem to take in. – KK
For your “hip” aunt who is going to be irate when some bearded lunatic from the north woods beats out Katy Perry for a Grammy – Bon Iver by Bon Iver
Alright, so Justin Vernon and his merry band of experimental folksters don’t technically hail from our fair city. But when an album this amazing comes out of Wisconsin, we’re damn sure going to take the proper amount of pride in it. And besides, Milwaukee is name-dropped in the beautiful “Halocene,” if not in the most flattering context. Lush, patient and breathtaking in its scope and execution, Bon Iver took the elevated expectation levels of following up the cult classic For Emma, Forever Ago and smashed them like an icicle falling from the roof of Vernon’s deep woods cabin. And even though Vernon doesn’t seem to want them, the album received four Grammy nominations, for better or worse. – KK
The Fatty Acids photo by Timmy Caldwell
