Future Record Fair
Patchwork
Zebras
Previously: After the breakup of their band The Window Smashers, Vincent Presley and Lacey Smith resurrected their “pre-coital” post-punk under the name Zebras. Drummer-singer Presley later switched to guitar, and Shawn Pierce joined on drums.
New: Zebras recently finished recording with Shane Hochstetler of the Milwaukee band Call Me Lightning. It’s a smart pairing—the two bands aren’t exactly similar, but their music shares a lean feel and a sense of panic. The new material sharpens and speeds up The Window Smashers’ attack with quick rhythm changes and vocals that consist of semi-melodic barking. Of the 10 songs in the works, Zebras plans to release seven on an EP, Parasitic Clones Under The Strong Arm Of The Robotic Machine, later this month.
Standout track: “I hate life! I hate-hate life!” Presley shrieks on “Me U And God,” a song that finds joy in its wretchedness, especially during a mid-song breakdown that pits a snarling guitar run against Smith’s quickly morphing synth tones.
Lucha Libre
Previously: Lucha Libre stamped reggaeton into brash, leering hip-hop on 2006’s Plantando Bandera, and continued putting out mixtapes with Madison DJ Pain 1 this year.
New: Tentatively scheduled for a May 10 release, The Takeover cuts down on Plantando’s skits and guest spots, with the group trying to keep its core skills at the front. The windy strings and horns of kickoff track “So Long” at once crank up the testosterone to wilder levels and make it more convincing and fun. Bilingual MCs Mic Virus and NV 1 seem to relish the Spanish verses with extra prickles on their tongues. The contrast is on full effect on “Ready”: The Spanish delivery’s a nastier fit for the brass and horny bounce of Da Ricanstruckta’s production, even if the English verses occasionally twist out surprises like “your money’s shorter than a praying mantis shadow.”
Standout track: Despite the above, the rapping’s best on the title track, the flow and rhymes perking up and taking more chances than usual: “Fucking with my people is fucking with something lethal / we deeper than the steeples on an upside-down cathedral.”
Cribshitter
Previously: For those who just happen to be at one of its shows and don’t know what to expect, local group Cribshitter sounds like a group of halfway-house escapees who stole some instruments and hijacked the stage. Playing chintzy-sweet pop songs alongside 20-second punk freakouts, the band fattens things up with a tuba and PowerPoint slides sharing lyrics like “I got hot sauce in my pussy / it makes me loosie-goosie.”
New: Cribshitter didn’t mature a bit when it started recording an album due out this spring, but it did refine the sounds and lay out its plan: Screaming a lot about some dude named Derek (“Derek Is A Punk,” “Derek Threw A Fuckin’ Eraser At Me”); a little sentimental twang (“Tumblin’ Down”); goofy pop sprinkled with drum machines and harmonies (“I Love How You Love Me”); and infantile lyrics paired with wanky guitar runs (“I Got Hot Sauce In My Pussy”).
Standout track: On “Jared’s Different Around Girls,” the band softens things up with a melancholy tune, “ooh-ooh” harmonies, and swells of tuba and keyboard. It’s almost possible to forget the song is based on one moronically repeated verse.
Patchwork
Previously: Jeremiah Nelson recorded a couple of strong EPs under the name Patchwork (sometimes a band, sometimes a solo act) before moving from Oshkosh to Madison. Live audiences here haven’t had many chances yet to see him in a band setting, though his sturdy writing puts him among the more engrossing solo-acoustic performers in town.
New: Nelson still fills his melodies with cynicism and comfort as he gathers up songs for an unfinished full-length. At any rate, expect his next record to sting a lot more than his last EP, Work And Worry. He’s had some cranky moments before, but a raw demo of “Escape Art” finds him nearly giving into hopelessness over booms of feedback and drums.
Standout track: If Nelson’s a little gruffer lately, he hasn’t lost his interest in more delicate moments, or his ear for making unusual elements sound perfectly natural. A few plucks from an African thumb piano called a kalimba lift up some warmth under the dreamy exhaustion of “Spaceships.”
Previously: After the breakup of their band The Window Smashers, Vincent Presley and Lacey Smith resurrected their “pre-coital” post-punk under the name Zebras. Drummer-singer Presley later switched to guitar, and Shawn Pierce joined on drums.
New: Zebras recently finished recording with Shane Hochstetler of the Milwaukee band Call Me Lightning. It’s a smart pairing—the two bands aren’t exactly similar, but their music shares a lean feel and a sense of panic. The new material sharpens and speeds up The Window Smashers’ attack with quick rhythm changes and vocals that consist of semi-melodic barking. Of the 10 songs in the works, Zebras plans to release seven on an EP, Parasitic Clones Under The Strong Arm Of The Robotic Machine, later this month.
Standout track: “I hate life! I hate-hate life!” Presley shrieks on “Me U And God,” a song that finds joy in its wretchedness, especially during a mid-song breakdown that pits a snarling guitar run against Smith’s quickly morphing synth tones.
Lucha Libre
Previously: Lucha Libre stamped reggaeton into brash, leering hip-hop on 2006’s Plantando Bandera, and continued putting out mixtapes with Madison DJ Pain 1 this year.
New: Tentatively scheduled for a May 10 release, The Takeover cuts down on Plantando’s skits and guest spots, with the group trying to keep its core skills at the front. The windy strings and horns of kickoff track “So Long” at once crank up the testosterone to wilder levels and make it more convincing and fun. Bilingual MCs Mic Virus and NV 1 seem to relish the Spanish verses with extra prickles on their tongues. The contrast is on full effect on “Ready”: The Spanish delivery’s a nastier fit for the brass and horny bounce of Da Ricanstruckta’s production, even if the English verses occasionally twist out surprises like “your money’s shorter than a praying mantis shadow.”
Standout track: Despite the above, the rapping’s best on the title track, the flow and rhymes perking up and taking more chances than usual: “Fucking with my people is fucking with something lethal / we deeper than the steeples on an upside-down cathedral.”
Cribshitter
Previously: For those who just happen to be at one of its shows and don’t know what to expect, local group Cribshitter sounds like a group of halfway-house escapees who stole some instruments and hijacked the stage. Playing chintzy-sweet pop songs alongside 20-second punk freakouts, the band fattens things up with a tuba and PowerPoint slides sharing lyrics like “I got hot sauce in my pussy / it makes me loosie-goosie.”
New: Cribshitter didn’t mature a bit when it started recording an album due out this spring, but it did refine the sounds and lay out its plan: Screaming a lot about some dude named Derek (“Derek Is A Punk,” “Derek Threw A Fuckin’ Eraser At Me”); a little sentimental twang (“Tumblin’ Down”); goofy pop sprinkled with drum machines and harmonies (“I Love How You Love Me”); and infantile lyrics paired with wanky guitar runs (“I Got Hot Sauce In My Pussy”).
Standout track: On “Jared’s Different Around Girls,” the band softens things up with a melancholy tune, “ooh-ooh” harmonies, and swells of tuba and keyboard. It’s almost possible to forget the song is based on one moronically repeated verse.
Patchwork
Previously: Jeremiah Nelson recorded a couple of strong EPs under the name Patchwork (sometimes a band, sometimes a solo act) before moving from Oshkosh to Madison. Live audiences here haven’t had many chances yet to see him in a band setting, though his sturdy writing puts him among the more engrossing solo-acoustic performers in town.
New: Nelson still fills his melodies with cynicism and comfort as he gathers up songs for an unfinished full-length. At any rate, expect his next record to sting a lot more than his last EP, Work And Worry. He’s had some cranky moments before, but a raw demo of “Escape Art” finds him nearly giving into hopelessness over booms of feedback and drums.
Standout track: If Nelson’s a little gruffer lately, he hasn’t lost his interest in more delicate moments, or his ear for making unusual elements sound perfectly natural. A few plucks from an African thumb piano called a kalimba lift up some warmth under the dreamy exhaustion of “Spaceships.”
