With the much-anticipated release of its new album just one day away, Juniper Tar has been stealing a lot of the local music headlines around Milwaukee of late, and rightfully so. But Friday night at Turner Hall, the band will be sharing the spotlight with another insatiably driven and supremely talented group with its own impressive new album to show off.

We last heard from Surgeons In Heat about this time last year when the band released its debut self-titled EP. And though the solid effort showcased a band with loads of musical chops and ambition, it at times seemed to meander off course, losing some of its impact. Enter the band’s brand new full length LP (cleverly titled Surgeons In Heat LP), a jaunty, mature album with loads of charisma and a clear idea of what it wants to be.

At just 1:21 in length, the opening track “Addressed to Me” offers a slick and understated, but altogether fitting start to a difficult-to-categorize, but easy-to-enjoy album from one of Milwaukee’s most intriguing bands. The album proceeds from there, at times eliciting frantic foot tapping with its pulsing baselines (“Flying Away”), at others taking its smooth time to let singer Jonathon Mayer’s crooning falsetto set the soulful mood (“If You Leave”).

Mayer’s voice is the album’s key feature throughout, commanding the tone of each track with its effortless transitions from soothing low-key near speaking to the aforementioned Bee Gees-esque falsetto shrill. All the while the music mirrors the vocal mood perfectly, patiently waiting for Mayer to kick into high gear and excitedly wrapping itself around his every word when he finally does. This is most effectively on display on standout tracks “No One Left” and “Can’t Do No Right.”

The overall production is solid, impeccably clean and punchy. After raising $1,350 via crowd-funding site MeBlitz to foot the recording costs, the band actually recorded the LP in two separate sessions, Side A at Vinnie’s House of Doom in Milwaukee and Side B at The Pearl in Minneapolis. But thanks to the mastering wizardry of the city’s finest, Justin Perkins, the sound quality is shimmering and consistent throughout.

All else aside, the biggest strength Surgeons In Heat has going for it is the fact that the band can write a catchy-ass tune. From front to back, this album is chock full of hummable melodies and sing-along choruses. (One listen to “I Wanna Get Up” should sufficiently lodge the chorus into your head.) The band has come a long way in its two-year existence, and its growth from EP to LP should have Surgeons In Heat feeling very good about the days ahead.

Check out the album for yourself here.

Milwaukee-Madison band Surgeons In Heat is a band perpetually on the move. Whether that movement is exhibited in the literal geographic relocation of members, the shook-up cast of players of past and present or the Surgeons’ often-packed itinerary of local shows, each movement finds the bands traveling in the same direction—up.

The two-year-old band has quickly established itself as an up-and-coming commodity in both Milwaukee and Madison through its live show and its solid catalog of songs that range from breezy summer anthems and falsetto-drenched power-pop. In addition to the heaps of praise the outfit has received here in Milwaukee (present company included), Surgeons In Heat was just featured on NPR’s World Café earlier this week.

Before that impressive nod, Music Notes spoke with Surgeons In Heat singer-songwriter and only remaining original member Johnathon Mayer about the band’s aggressive show schedule, the brand new lineup and the MeBlitz crowd-funding campaign for the forthcoming Surgeons In Heat LP.

What’s the rationale behind the band playing out so often? It seems like you play out a lot more than many other local bands.
I’m just the kind of guy who wants to play a lot of shows. I mean, if it was up to me, we’d be playing; you know, we’d like to play in other cities, but it’s hard to get out of town other than Chicago and Minneapolis.

As the only original member left, what have the new members brought, both in sound and in overall band dynamic?
Well, Shawn, our drummer, we just had our first practice with him a few days ago. After Juice [former drummer Justin Kunesh] left the band, we haven’t really been able to practice. The other new member we have is (bassist) Kenny Monroe. He played in a band with Tyler [Ditter, guitar] and he also plays in another band with Tyler where he’s the lead singer, Tyler plays bass and our new drummer plays drums. So Surgeons In Heat is now basically 3/4ths the band Pioneer.

As far as what they bring, Kenny is a very positive force in a band, really positive about everything. Just the ability to work with him is very effortless. So far it seems that way with Shawn, like, these guys all played together already, so there’s that sort of camaraderie.

With the members split between Milwaukee and Madison, does that make I hard to meet up to write and rehearse?
Not really because we play a lot of shows locally. We can pay for the gas expense by playing a show and practice the day of the show. I mean, it would obviously be more ideal if they lived in Milwaukee or I lived in Madison. I originally moved back to Milwaukee (from Madison) to play with Williams and Justin. Then, William left the band and we got a new bass player and Justin left the band and we got a new drummer, and they all happened to live in Madison. So it was kind of funny, but that’s how it goes.

Other than the new record and writing with the new lineup, what are you short- and long-term plans with the band?
Well, we’ve got a show coming up at Linneman’s that we’re really excited to close out the year with. We’re excited about it because it’s Shawn’s first show. We don’t really know what the year has to bring, but after December things are going to free up and I’m very excited to see where things go with that, as far as trying to tour now that we have a van. We’re hoping to put out this EP soon, but we don’t know when that will be. Right now, the focus is definitely getting the final press and trying to play as many show so that people want to do it. So we can get 100 to say “yeah” [to donating to the MeBlitz fund].

To help fund Surgeons In Heat’s 12-inch LP, donate to the band’s MeBlitz fund. See them play live Friday at Linneman’s Riverwest Inn, headlining a bill that also includes Icarus Himself and Animals In Human Attire.

Photo courtesy of Surgeons in Heat