Articles by Joel Shanahan |

Music Review The Hussy: Weed Seizure

By the end of its no-nonsense 27 minutes, Weed Seizure shows off a huge new Hussy.

March 14, 2012 | 2:15pm -
Interview “Charge into midnight overdrive and ride the ice” with Madison metal bands Wife and Panther

“We’re influenced by rock ’n’ roll, motorcycles, fire, hell, punk, and Judas Priest,” Panther bassist Nitro X says, sunken into a couch with a beer in his paw. “Also, motorcycles. We’re punks and we play metal—it’s a gray line.”

February 13, 2012 | 12:00am -
Best of Local The A.V. Club’s favorite Madison shows of 2011

Smith Westerns, Boris, Das Racist, Davey Von Bohlen, Peaking Lights, Panther, EMA, Yelawolf, and more did it for us this year. How about you?

December 29, 2011 | 12:00am -
Best of Local Honorable mention: 8 more great Madison records from 2011

Jeremiah Nelson, Midwest Beat, Samantha Glass, and Wormsblood all deserve your attention, too.

December 21, 2011 | 12:00am -
Best of Local The A.V. Club’s top 10 Madison records of 2011

Check it out to see what made our list.

December 19, 2011 | 12:00am -
Recap Gang Gang Dance at the Majestic Theatre

The spirit guide was only the beginning GGD’s “positive energy”-filled rhythmic bear hug.

October 20, 2011 | 3:00pm -
Recap Boris at the Majestic Theatre

The band rose above the noise to show off dynamic songwriting and towering musicianship.

October 19, 2011 | 1:30pm -
Interview Stew & Friends comes to campus

Playwright, musician, and visiting professor Mark “Stew” Stewart invites legendary bassist Richard Davis, Living Colour’s Vernon Reid, and more to UW.

October 18, 2011 | 12:00am -
Music Review Icarus Himself: Career Culture

The band’s great new full-length makes no apologies for its dynamic cascades.

October 11, 2011 | 12:30pm -
Recap Girls at the Majestic Theatre

The San Francisco band held the audience’s attention by letting the songs speak for themselves.

October 3, 2011 | 11:00am -
Interview Max and Luke Savage of The Lonesome Savages

The bandmates talk Little Richard’s “devil music,” their upcoming seven-inch, and starting a band with people who can’t play.

September 19, 2011 | 12:00am -
feature The 12 Madison shows we’re most excited about seeing this fall

Dave Attell, Dum Dum Girls, Das Racist, and lots more shows have us rooting for autumn to get here.

September 1, 2011 | 12:00am -
Go For The Opener Before the Iceage cometh, step into some Deep Shit

They’re on some shoot-your-motherfucking-homeboy-in-the-face type shit.

August 5, 2011 | 1:00pm -
Recap Thurston Moore at High Noon Saloon

The tower of a man worked through his new album and told tales of playing the Wil-Mar Center.

July 18, 2011 | 3:00pm -
Recap Summerfest Day 1: Hall And Oates bring the goods, Meat Loaf gets pissed

Meat Loaf has two words for you: “Fuck you!”

June 30, 2011 | 12:15pm -
Interview Man Mantis on getting ready for his first ever solo show tonight

“I figure that if it’s possible for me to fuck up, then it’s good. I want it to be enough of a live performance that I can fuck up.”

June 29, 2011 | 12:00am -
Interview Pelt’s Patrick Best and Mikel Dimmick

“There was something really kind of crystalline about what we did in the set that night.”

June 15, 2011 | 2:00pm -
Music Review The Midwest Beat: Gone Not Lost

The Madison/Milwaukee band sledgehammers 15 concise chunks of concentrated guitar pop into its new album.

June 10, 2011 | 11:15am -
Recap David Bazan at The Annex

Despite his electronics turning on him, the grizzly musician turned in a solid performance with a few Pedro The Lion songs tossed in.

June 8, 2011 | 2:00pm -
Just Announced Mötley Crüe and Tommy Lee’s “360” vertical drum rollercoaster coming to Fort McCoy

The band will be playing a set picked out by fans on August 5.

June 7, 2011 | 3:00pm -
Interview The Midwest Beat’s 5 favorite Midwest rock 45s

In celebration of the band’s new Gone Not Lost, we talk to them about Wisconsin rock 45s they love.

June 7, 2011 | 12:00am -
feature Out of the club and into the sun: The A.V. Club’s outdoor summer concert preview

Lots to do in Madison and nearby, so strap yourself in for a rip-roaring preview.

May 31, 2011 | 12:00am -
feature The Isthmians Of Comedy bid farewell to two of their own

Stefan Davis and David Pickett will sadly be leaving us soon.

May 10, 2011 | 1:05pm -
Just Announced Thurston Moore at the High Noon Saloon

He’ll be celebrating his new solo record, Demolished Thoughts, on July 16.

April 25, 2011 | 2:15pm -
Recap Low at the Majestic Theatre

Alan Sparhawk: “You’re very kind, but we aren’t going to play any of those.”

April 21, 2011 | 2:00pm -
Recap Marc Maron at the Comedy Club On State

The comic and radio host is proud of Madison, but thinks we’re “frightenly polite.”

April 4, 2011 | 2:50pm -
feature The A.V. Club’s 2011 Line Breaks Festival preview

Rafael Casal, Danez Smith, and Jasmine Mans will get you out to the theater.

April 4, 2011 | 12:00am -
Music Review Jeremiah Nelson: Drugs To Make You Sober

The songwriter finds a confident voice in the rubble of a shitty situation.

March 29, 2011 | 4:30pm -
Wisconsin Film Festival sneak peek #4: Punks playing rock, but not punk rock

The Replacments, Fishbone, and Milwaukee’s Triforce music festival fit the bill.

March 29, 2011 | 10:45am -
Music Review The United Sons Of Toil, When The Revolution Comes, Everything Will Be Beautiful

The Madison vets’ release a timely set of furiously jagged rock songs charged with political frustration.

March 4, 2011 | 12:00am -