Whether you are looking to turn your swag on at a nightclub downtown, get down with your hipster self at a warehouse in the Third Ward or mosh into underground oblivion in an East Side basement, Milwaukee’s eclectic hotbed of local music makes it easy to find something that satisfies your musical predilections.
For those about to rock, Milwaukee salutes you. The BoDeans, Citizen King and The Violent Femmes – Brew City success stories – heralded the advancement of contemporary rock groups such as Maritime, a powerpop quartet with a penchant for melodic, hooky ditties.
Following the fortunate demise of the unfortunate side-swooped bangs and apathetic teen angst of the emo genre that plagued the mid 2000s, The Promise Ring disbanded, checking its adolescent blues at the door to greener, cheerier pastures in the indie-pop field under the name Maritime.
After making waves with their sophomore album “We, The Vehicles,” Maritime began their steady ascent to national renown with two more well-received albums, the latest being this year’s “Human Hearts” featuring the single “Arizona Air.” Now under the direction of indie label giant Dangerbird Records, which touts big-name acts Silversun Pickups and Hot Hot Heat, Maritime’s previous splashes in the music scene might swell into torrents.
Rock also flourishes in Milwaukee’s gritty garages and basement brawls in the East Side mecca of hardcore as a result of local alternative record labels and ambitious underground bands.
Hot off their debut album, “Learns to Love Mistakes,” Milwaukee punk three-piece Absolutely quickly accrued a whirlwind of media buzz, critical acclaim and local and national hype this spring for their progressive, contemporary method of post-hardcore rock.
The aggressive barrage of remorseless gnarls emitted from George Ananchev’s guitar and fellow vocalist Andy McGuire’s bass add to the percussive assault led by drummer Charlie Hosale, melding a vicious blend of sharp, earsplitting and calculated mayhem.
“It’s really hard for me because I can’t really describe it in genres,” Ananchev said. “I mean, I don’t mean to sound pretentious, but it kind of hops over barriers and genres because we’re influenced by a lot of music, but for me, especially 1990s grunge.”
Earlier this month, The A.V. Club’s Steven Hyden nationally highlighted “Learns to Love Mistakes” as one of the top albums of the year, along with critics from local entities like The Shepherd Express.
“Yeah, no slowing down,” Ananchev said. “The album has just picked us up. It has gotten such an awesome response; like things I dreamed about, that people in newspapers would say, ‘Check these guys out.’ That’s really keeping us going; we’re going to keep doing this.”
As burgeoning as Milwaukee’s rock scene is, the hip-hop community also offers many notable performers. In the last two years, Milwaukee rapper Ray Nitti’s infectious club banger “Bow” became a staple not only in Wisconsin, but around the country, climbing the song charts and receiving steady radio spins on pop and urban stations.
Though Nitti hasn’t produced anything momentous since then, the hip-hop culture in Milwaukee is anything but stagnant. Emcee Melissa Czarnik brings a little sugar and spice to a dominantly masculine hip-hop game, but not in the crass, outlandish ways of her female contemporaries Lady Sovereign or Nicki Minaj. The soulful elision of Czarnik’s throwback beatnik rhymes pay homage to Lauryn Hill, while her winding, introspective personal narratives emulate Atmosphere’s storytelling.
“Raspberry Jesus,” Czarnik’s most recent effort, offers a rebuttal to modern rap’s frequently chauvinistic vernacular by weaving together female flair, alluring spoken word poetry and the Eric Mire Band’s jazzy instrumentation.
So, next time you feel your brain melting into an aural abyss as a result of KISS FM’s interminable, generic five-song loop, try looking in your own backyard. Tune into 88.9 FM or go to a local show. Even if you don’t end up hearing the next big thing, you just might find something you like.