5 Charms 05.26

Vacancy Chain – Is This How It's Supposed to Be? (Milwaukee, WI/Chicago, IL; 2026)

Do you remember those days?
The way that the light would fade over this city?

Most folks I review in Trilobite don't have their own Wikipedia article--Ashley Altadonna does. Altadonna is a trans filmmaker, artist, and musician who lives in Milwaukee, and Vacancy Chain, an indie punk band, is her newest music project. Altadonna's other accolades include her film production company Tall Lady Productions and three documentaries about the trans experience (among many other video projects). "Supposed to Be" is a 6-song EP that opens with a song about being prepared when you go out for Halloween. To the cold beat of electronic drums, Altadonna lists everything in her bag from a rusty nail to hand grenades and of course the eponymous hot sauce. Memorex and R.E.V.S. jump forward with guitar-driven garage punk, while Wind & The Weather and Albion are both dirty, jangly, sad indie rock songs about growth and change. It's an interesting collection of songs that highlights Altadonna's bittersweet and darkly humorous lyrics as well as her pointed guitar melodies. Vacancy Chain will play at Future Ghost Fest , in a vineyard north of Madison on August 8. The band is:

Ashley Altadonna: Guitar / Vocals
Michael Agustin: Bass / Vocals
Emily Agustin: Drums/ Percussion / Vocals

Rosenau and Sandborn – Two (Milwaukee, WI/Durham, NC; 2026)

[crackling electroacoustics]

You know guitarist Chris Rosenau from his many Milwaukee projects, including Volcano Choir, Collections of Colonies of Bees, and Pele. You know Nick Sandborn as the electronics and beat scientist behind Sylvan Esso and Made of Oak. This is the second EP released by Rosenau and Sandborn as a duo, although they have made music together in various bands in the past. "Two" is a quiet but propulsive electro-acoustic collection that literally features exactly one acoustic guitar and what I can only assume is some kind of electronic sample manipulation machine. I've seen both of them perform live, and there are a lot of knobs to twist, but the technology never gets in the way of a song. Somehow, the manipulated guitar sounds a lot like Volcano Choir or Bon Iver, messy but beautiful. There are no lyrics here, but Deltas really feels like the push and pull of river water over sand. Walrus feels like the animal diving and skipping under the ice, hulking but deft in underwater flight. This thing is available on vinyl, which I imagine sounds great. Pick it up and throw it on the platter some summer night.

Felt Pilotes – King of Everything (Beloit, WI; 2026)

If I was king of everything
How sweet your life would be
But I'm not king of anything

If you follow the indie comix world, or the midwest zine scene, you'll recognize John Porcellino. His Cat-King Comics has been an ongoing, no-budget comic series since 1989. His graphic novel memoir The Hospital Suite is an incredible and sad and beautiful telling of his medical and mental health crises over a few years in the late 90s and early 00s. And of course you see him at every zine fest in every city from Green Bay to Milwaukee. He lives, writes, and makes music in Beloit where he also occasionally teaches about graphic novels. This very tiny but sweet slowcore/twee-pop collection is mostly Porcellino, with some assistance on drums by Donal Ogalvie. The centerpiece here is the title track, a nicely melodic slowcore song written in 1995. In fact, the other two tunes were also written in the early 90s. And "hell yeah" we love that. The 90s indie/DIY ethos is the vibe we're all longing to envelope ourselves in during these days of digital excess, political violence, and fascist billionaires. Check out Porcellino's printed work from your local library, or order some books, music, and stickers from his long-running zine and micro-press distro Spit and a Half.

Ladyslipper - Understory (Madison, WI; 2026)

Vibrant
We are the life
We live in color
Alive and ready to bloom like lavender in summer

Vocal folk/pop performers Ladyslipper appeared on the scene this year, a quartet of femme-powered harmonies with little more than a cajon and some acoustic strings to accompany them across a 9-track album. The real power of this music is in the blending of vocals, and many of the tracks contain only vocals or mostly only vocals. Small touches here and there showcase flourishes from the larger music community, but this is a rare a capella record that reminds me alternatively of shaker music, Mountain Man, and something Alan Lomax might have hidden away on an acetate reel somewhere. Highlights include the Fiona Apple-penned "Hot Knife," with its choral twists and turns, the soaring "Mycelium," dancing through the pine boughs, and cricket-driven lullaby "Artificial Light." This is a gorgeous and comforting album, full of songs as sunny and vibrant as a garden. The band will be performing at Dirt Camp Fest on June 27, and I couldn't be more excited. Ladyslipper is:

Megan McCrumb: vocals, guitar
Lindsey Pluer: vocals
Annie Kubena: vocals
Laura Wiederhoeft: vocals

Frog Concert – Quiet Snore of the Dream Peeper II (Antigo, WI; 2025)

[icy synth lines]

You guys fw dungeon synth? I often feel like I know a lot about music stuff, but then something like Frog Concert comes along, and I'm as confused as a child staring at a hot air balloon. What is real? What is frog? Begun as possibly a joke, a collection of analog and digital synth demos in the late 1990s, Frog Concert has emerged as one of the most prominent purveyors of weird internet music. Their "Slumbering Sounds of the Frog Fellowship," which has tens of thousands of plays on streaming, is well known by fans of the genres and herpetologists alike. They perform in full frog costume, with frog-themed synths, puppets, and a ton of punk whimsy. Their latest split-EP is a collaboration with fellow dungeon synth artist Foghaven. So what is this music like? Am I just dancing about architecture here? Click on the link and give it a listen. If you like slow, melancholy synth drones, vaguely medieval rhythms, and the instrumental parts between black metal songs, you'll definitely love Frog Concert. Available digitally or, if you get to it fast enough, on cassette tape. Because of course it is.