5 Charms 09.25

Resurrectionists - Any Time You Make a Place for Them (Milwaukee, WI; 2025)

Used to be I was sanctified
And then I sank

Resurrectionists are a loud band from Milwaukee and this new EP is really good. It reminded me of noisy post-punk pioneers Mission of Burma. It's that kind of good. The first two songs sort of collide into you with their plodding, twisting guitar riffs, while singer Joe Cannon stalks and shouts his anxieties into the humid summer air. "Make a Place for Them" is a nice proto-blues punk tune. "Hey Man" takes us back to 80s-influenced indie punk with textured bass and keyboards. These four songs are Resurrectionists most straight-fowardly punk works to date--no pedal steel, no banjo, just a lot of nervous noise. It's perfect for our political and cultural moment, working class Milwaukee lo-fi art rock that deserves an audience. I picked up it up on cassette, and you can even get it with an oracle deck!

Resurrectionists are:
Joe Cannon: vocals and guitar
Jeff Brueggeman: bass
Josh Barto: drums
Gian Pogliano: 12-string guitar and other sounds

Lomira - A Lapidary World (Milwaukee, WI; 2025)

Can you feel the impression of a dream?

"Lapidary" has to do with shaping gems, as Milwaukee songwriter Marielle Allschwang continues to do with each new release. This time, the precious stone is an EP of quiet, psych-folk songs under the name Lomira. Featuring mostly acoustic instruments with minimal percussion, Lomira fits somewhere into the rambling branches of the indie-folk world, but you wouldn't mistake this for Sufjan, Big Thief, or Haley Heynderickx. There's not much pop to it, just beautiful drones and gentle finger-picking, like sitting on the porch listening to talented friends jam along with bird songs. Sure, there are lyrics, but like Allschwang's other projects, the melodies and themes are dreamlike. Ruminations on the wonders of nature, time, and growth. The handful of tracks here balance on the wings of centerpiece "Hawk Returns," which showcases the collaboration between Allschwang and frequent musical companion Adam Krause on an extended and twisting finger-picked intro. This is a collection of songs meant for thought and stillness, and it's not available streaming, so pick up the download to support one of Milwaukee's most iconoclastic musicians.

Lomira is:
Marielle Allschwang - vocals, guitar, violin, hammond organ
Adam Michael Krause - guitar, percussion, hammond organ, guzheng

Yolk - Yolk (Madison, WI; 2025)

Every time I grow older
I learn a little more I wish I didn't know

Madison's Yolk is one of a dozen new, young bands creating 90s-inspired alternative/grunge music on the isthmus . Playing mostly house shows, these bands are true to the DIY spirit of previous decades, making merch, recording and mixing their own records, enlisting friends for photoshoots and videos. Yolk's self-titled EP arrives in time for your autumn listening. You'll recognize these riffs and chords, the sarcastic and caustic singing of Ari Parmet, the drum fills and quiet/loud dynamics. The clean and precise production belies Yolk's indie roots, with a song like "Disquietude" already sounding like a massive, festival-ready jam. "Found Missing" is a great introduction to the band's sound, everything building and plowing forward just the way you expect. This is not to say any of it is boring; if you are itching for some noisy, grungy rock music, this will scratch that itch. At only 4 songs, this EP welcomes you into the messy world of disaffected 20-somethings where the future is uncertain, nobody has their shit together, and music is best experienced loud. Great stuff from a young band with hopefully lots more to come!

Yolk is:
Ari Parmet: guitar, vocals
Joe Frankowski: bass
Jack Jameson: guitar
Charley Caton: drums

Chapped Lips - Rot (Milwaukee, WI; 2025)

I'm learning to just look up
When I keep falling down

One time someone asked me why I listen to sad music if it just makes me sad? That's a fine question to ask, and it makes sense from the perspective of a person who isn't sad. Whether it's a banjo-powered dirge or a sludgy blackgaze riff, the power of sad music is that it makes you feel less alone in your sadness. Chapped Lips is a post-hardcore band that writes sad songs that make you feel less alone. This 4-song EP is over pretty quickly, but that just makes it easier to start it over again and listen from the beginning. Title track, "Rot," starts with murky guitar noodling, then bursts into punk madness as singer Sam Kaffine wails about feeling rotten inside. He's "barely made it to 22". I get it. I've been there. Life is a series of ups and downs, a lot of downs, in fact, a cycle of breakdowns, screaming, and then the beauty of waves crashing on the shore of some quiet lake. Sort of like the song "Rot," by Chapped Lips. "Free Bird III," a modern PUP-punk singalong, gets you up and dancing, hoping to figure it all out. "Static on the Screen" is grungy and energetic, almost psychedelic, showing off the fearless and melodic guitar work the Chappies are capable of. "Skies No Longer Blue (Part One)" ends in a crushing, horn-laden, post-rock breakdown. Based on these 4 songs, it's hard to say where Chapped Lips is headed next. They are an incredibly creative and talented band and this short record comes with my highest recommendation, if you can stand listening to sad music for a little while.

Chapped Lips is:
Sam Kaffine: guitar and vocals
Slater Gutierrez: lead guitar
Zach Schroeder: bass
Jonah Mueller: drums

We are the Willows - IV (Eau Claire/Minneapolis; 2024)

Your love is all in my head

We are the Willows has evolved a lot over the course nearly 2 decades. As a 2010s music blog band, they were in Wisconsin and Minnesota during the "Muzzle of Bees" era, the beginning of the Shitty Barn Sessions, and the transformation of Eau Claire from a normal college town to a music destination courtesy of Bon Iver. During that time, Willows compositions grew and matured from indie folk into experimental chamber pop. Peter M., Willows singer/songwriter, delivers his spiritually-dense pleas with a signature contra-tenor voice, notably accompanied by lyrical cellist Hilary James. This most recent record, the fourth full-length project by Willows, is mostly Peter singing/manipulating vocals/drums and Hilary James's cello. Other band members slide in and out of the pieces, most notably in radio-ready indie pop gem "Saturday." This record feels like laying in the middle of a prairie in late September, watching the bent stalks of purple grass dance in the wind. It's experimental without being annoying, noisy without being harsh, and utterly charming. "Do You Remember When Your Heart Was Wild?" could be a Son Lux outtake with its droning electronics and bit-crushed vocals. The drums and cello argue about love on "Forgiveness/Forgetness," and we get the joy of listening in. Seriously. Pick this record up. It's only 8 damn dollars for the download (less than $20 for the vinyl)!

We are the Willows is:
Peter M: Drums, Synths, Loops, & Vocals
Hilary James: Cello, Loops, & Vocals
Travis Collins: Bass
Jeremiah Satterthwaite: Keys & Guitars