A.V. Club's favorite Milwaukee music of 2008: The Championship
Our week-long look at the year's best local music begins with some sad, sad bastards
Corey Hengen
Throughout the year we hear a lot of local records at Decider HQ. Some of them are good, a lot of them aren’t, and a select few never leave the CD player. The following records belong in the last category. Today, we look at The Championship's Midnight Golden.
The Championship’s stunning sophomore release Midnight Golden is a record set (and possibly written) in one of the city’s many corner taverns, which, according to singer-songwriter Joe Crockett, are filled with lonely wanderers longing to escape failed lives, whether it’s on the open road or in some stranger’s bedroom. Tavern life is a “Ferris Wheel,” Crockett sings on the album’s first track, where “I stand here with a drink in my hand, for reasons I don’t understand.” The Championship’s first record Dance Casador! was described (a bit too broadly) as alt-country; Midnight Golden is just straight-up, no-alt-required country, in overall mood if not always in sound. It’s a record so warm, you want to rub your hands over it. Here is The Championship playing "Ferris Wheel" on WMSE, and a free MP3 download.
Download the audio here.
