Forward Fest Listen-Around: Great lakes, good tunes Part 1

Because the second annual Forward Music Festival (Sept. 17-19) has so many bands crammed into its lineup, we at The A.V. Club have been talking about what we'd like to catch and how to get oriented. To preview the festival without getting overwhelmed, our writers will hold a series of informal discussions about FMF's bands. This week, we drop the one-band-at-a-time routine for a multi-post look at some of the many Madison- and Wisconsin-based acts in the lineup.

Scott: It's easy to look at a festival lineup like this and say, "Hey, why didn't they get ____ to play?" so I'll try to restrain myself from that—at a certain point, you just have to accept that the world doesn't revolve around you and the bands you like, and booking a big festival (much like editing an entertainment website) surely comes with its share of damned-if-you-do/damned-if-you-don't situations. That said, I'm always a little bummed when people overlook the more abrasive side of local music. There's The Hussy at the Corral Room Sept. 19, and some harder-hitting electronic acts like Caustic in the mix at Reverence Fest. So if Forward can work in a branch of local music like Reverence, maybe next year it can keep an ear out for good local punk/metal/post-punk acts like Dissent And Revolt, Kitty Rhombus [UPDATE: Kitty Rhombus are playing a late-booked FMF kickoff show at the Wisco next Wednesday], The United Sons Of Toil, Lords Of Discipline, Buried Future, etc. Still, I know at least one guy in This Bright Apocalypse likes Jawbox and Drive Like Jehu as much as I do, and the way they mix those influences with traditional African music should make for a cool counterpoint to BLK JKS and Occidental Brothers Dance Band International at the Orpheum Stage Door on Saturday the 19th. I'm also gonna try and see what Madison songwriter Jeremiah Nelson is up to with his new band The Achilles Heel on Friday the 18th at The Frequency—I like the stuff Nelson has done under the name Patchwork, but I've somehow failed to catch him live in a band setting for the past year or so. (Here's a video of him playing as Jeremiah Nelson And The Mysterious Bruises.)

Bob: Scott, I’m in your boat (a pretty gondola) on Jeremiah Nelson And The Achilles Heel, so Friday at the Frequency is definitely on my schedule. On that same bill is Icarus Himself, a band that I find becomes more intriguing with every new track they release. Nick Whetro and Karl Christenson's songwriting and ever-changing arrangements find a perfect medium between totally out there and totally familiar sounding, something that’s normally impossible to pull off at a live show. (The video below's a tad dark and grainy, but gives you some idea of how IH's live set has been mutating lately.)

My real issue with Friday the 18th is the fact that a ton of decent Wisconsin bands I haven’t had the opportunity to see in a while are playing showcases spread out around the city, all at about the same time. One of these bands, a bunch of scrappy dance-punk college kids named Terrior Bute (playing the Wongz Walk showcase at the Orpheum Lobby on the 18th), seemed on the verge of great things before they went down to play SXSW this spring. Meanwhile, Flatbear land themselves on the big bill of the night, opening for Ra Ra Riot and local sweethearts Sleeping In The Aviary at the High Noon Saloon. While Flatbear's instantly likable new album Flying Days leans quiet and pretty, SITA seems to be taking their folksy blues sound back a notch while returning to their earlier, loud-as-hell face-melting catchy-ass punk noise. I will go on record as saying I’m in full support of this. Sleeping In The Aviary is definitely the kind of band Forward Music Fest needs for Ra Ra Riot foreplay. I’m looking into golf-cart rental prices to see if it would be my best mode of transportation between venues, but I’m unsure of their legal status on State Street. For now, here's Terrior Bute from a basement in Milwaukee: