5 Charms 11.25

Traveling Suitcase - Moonlit Nights (Oshkosh, WI; 2025)

I'm sweet poetry in Darwin's book

Nicolas Raymond has been writing and performing with Traveling Suitcase since 2013, which only makes this EP all the more amazing. In all of that time, the band hasn't put out a proper full length, ever. And with each recording and line-up change, they get noisier, freer, and more adventurous. "Moonlit Nights" finds Raymond's voice in its finest shape. His angelic roar is the perfect foil for the band's psychedelic grunge on "Dragonwolf" and "Off the Ground." To fully experience Raymond as a frontman and performer, you need to see the band play live. He recently stepped out from behind the drum kit, where he has played and sang for the majority of the band's career so far. Many alternative rock bands seethe with angst, but Raymond's enthusiasm and positivity turn Traveling Suitcase shows into a celebration of love and acceptance. Buy a download of this EP on iTunes and support the next cool thing Traveling Suitcase does! Traveling Suitcase is:
Nicholas Raymond: Vocals, Drums
Brandon Domer: Vocals, Bass, Synth
Nate Mcdowell: Vocals, Guitar
Todd Balke: Vocals, Guitar

Baby Tyler - Sucker with a Dream (Madison, WI; 2025)

The pressure's killing me
And it's killing you

My first punk band was 1990s Chicago street-punk group Crashdog. I wore out the cassette tape of their record "Humane Society" mowing lawns all throughout high school. I even brought it to McDonald's with me and played it in the break room one time, much to the confusion of my co-workers. (Shout out to the Lake Geneva McDonald's.) Anyway. "Sucker with a Dream" is a Midwestern street punk treasure. It teeters right on the edge of hardcore, right on the edge of dissonance, but Tyler manages to find the melodic sweet spot in both his shouted vocals and the buzzing guitars. Some might find it abrasive. Most might, in fact. I certainly do. But there's something so good about songs that trip along at under 2 minutes, but still find creative space for weird guitar and drum parts. It's also refreshing to hear something so unabashedly punk. Your ears will hurt with this one, but when you finish the album 20 minutes after it starts, you'll put it on again and find something new on your next listen. Baby Tyler is Tyler Fassnacht, a Madison musical hero who can scream like this and put out an incredible roots rock album like "Everything Finished" by TS Foss Band. I don't know. Some people are just wicked talented like that. Pick up Sucker on vinyl at a show sometime, or get the download from Bandcamp.

Buffalo Nichols - Precious Nothing (Milwaukee, WI; 2025)

My love, my god
It's over

I don't know, guys. Carl Nichols, aka "Buffalo Nichols" aka "America's Favorite Bluesman," does stuff with a guitar that I've only seen in music videos from the 1980s. Like, his fingers move so fast and so precisely on the neck of the guitar, you can barely tell where the beautiful tones are coming from. He's active on social media, so you can follow him and watch him play this stuff on an acoustic guitar, an electric guitar, and even on a banjo. It's no surprise that he can play and write folk and blues songs on multiple instruments, but you wouldn't necessarily expect him to also create a droning, sludgy, metal tune like "Precious Nothing," complete with some breath-taking guitar solos. He's been releasing stuff independently on streaming and over on iTunes, so it's worth firing up your old account to buy his new music. Start with "Precious Nothing," an anti-love song, but also pick up his singles "Moses" and "Absence of Light," which iterate on the blues form, adding a thick layer of feedback and dark, reverby drones. America in 2025 is as dark as it has been in many of our lives. It feels hopeless in a lot of ways, and both the blues and metal genres have a lot to say about that.

Julia Blair - All of My Important Things (Appleton, WI; 2025)

What does my cat think about?
Or does she even think at all?

Julia Blair is a songwriter of uncommon creative power and a singer of uncommon strength. Listen as her voice growls along with her keyboard on gospel-tinged "Believe in That." Her new record "All of My Important Things," is a country/soul album about the treasures of life: friends and family, blankets and bears. She remembers beautiful things, starting with a precious object made by her grandmother ("This Blanket") . She thinks about death and the simple and sweet future vision of cooking for her friends in heaven with her cast iron pans ("My Possessions"). It's not all nostalgia, on "Be My Friend," she sings about how friendships change as people age ("I don't wanna fuck you at all / So you don't wanna be my friend"). Blair's piano-based tunes are akin to the contemporary outsider songs of Joanna Sternberg, but also owe more than a bit to 1960s and 70s songwriters like Randy Newman, who she covers here with "I Think It's Going to Rain Today". Like all of the records released by members of the DUSK cinematic universe, this album is impeccably produced, with flourishes of guitar, drums, and other backing instruments (revel in the fiddle solo on "Cancelled Our Plans"), but the songs are predominately a showcase for Blair's vocals and keyboard playing, which never disappoint. It's an unusual and artful album that comes highly recommended.

Aergo - Grief, Wisconsin (Madison, WI; 2025)

I love a world that's full of hate
that I don't reciprocate
but I wish and hope that life will change
in a meaningful way

I've been looking forward to this new record by post-hardcore band Aergo. They've been active in the basement and house show scenes of Madison and Milwaukee for a few years, but the youth of the members has made it hard to catch them in an actual venue (spoiler alert: I am old). That said, they really know how to craft arty emo songs with twisty, noisy guitar work and great breakdowns. This is music driven by the push and pull of sweaty crowds, the buzz and squeal of amps. They experiment here and there with textures: acoustic guitar on "What's the Irony," some phasery guitar on "Sunshine is a Reward" and even blast beats on "Grief, Wisconsin." These guys are just really talented, really creative, and understand how to harness the power of dynamics. Grab this download from Aergo and get ready for their next thing, as this young band is just starting to make their mark on the DIY music scene.