5 Charms 12.24

The Lonesome Cobras - 3P (Madison, WI; 2024)

you could just give up you already gave in
it might be better than tryin again and again
when you know you can't win

It's been a long 8 years for The Lonesome Cobras. Like the rest of us, they wrote a bunch of songs, put together a band, and had big dreams before the descent of COVID-19. After that, things had changed. People moved away. People had children. People left their jobs and got new jobs. Somehow, this incredible bunch of musicians just toppled off the cliff at the end of the world. Sure, all those smart and talented folks crammed onto some stages. They rattled songs into some mics, somewhere, for some very lucky people. But in a perfect world, they'd be playing stages every weekend. Instead, we get a three-song EP showcasing their weird americana. Gothic jazz? Tin pan indie? Lo fi junk blues? I could make up genres all day. With accordion, viola, upright bass, multiple vocalists, tasteful guitar licks, each song is a surprise. "Child King," which opens the EP, is typical of their sound: rhythms and melodies colliding, twists and turns, and singer Aaron Fisher's lonesome bass vocals, like Tom Waits before all the cigarettes. The cool thing is, The Lonesome Cobras have more songs, so we get to await their recording and eventual release. In the meantime, add these three songs to your collection! The Lonesome Cobras are:

Aaron Fisher - vocals, guitars, steel guitar
Stephanie Birr - vocals
Carson Maule - vocals, acoustic guitar
Anna Chang - violin, viola, accordion
Patrick Ziegle - acoustic double bass, electric bass
Josh Reindl - drums

Haunter - Mytharc (Milwaukee, WI; 2024)

Things will shake into place in the morning light

O damn, look out, Milwaukee's Haunter has a new album! Mytharc is 12 weird songs of pop/psych/gaze that will tear a hole in your slumber space. Doomy and sweet, like a forbidden chocolate chip cookie, this album is perfect for fall, winter, or that rainy time between winter and summer. Most of these songs creep along noisily, failing every stealth check. Cymbals redline. Guitars crackle and ring. There are all kinds of reasons to love this release--the fizz of the lo-fi recording (perfect for cassette tape!), the aching vocals, the sincere documentation of quarter-life existential dread. There are a ton of highlights on this record, just about anywhere you drop in you'll encounter mellow, spacey jams: Pinemaple, Syllables, Lullabies, Leapt On Up. They slack along in mid-tempo, then burst into guitar solos. Great stuff. Put it on your list.

Haunter is:
Aidan Keyes - Vocals and guitar
Alec Grefe - Guitar
Pedro Galvan - Bass guitar
John Schoneman - Drums

Lonesome Wyatt and the Holy Spooks - Afraid (Madison, WI; 2024)

We'll put an end to this charade
It's too late to be afraid

Lonesome Wyatt is part of the band Those Poor Bastards, but his Holy Spooks project goes all the way back to 2001's Sabella. Who is Lonesome Wyatt? And are there Holy Spooks? It's hard to say. The only thing public about Wyatt is that he hails from the grim underbelly of Stoughton (the mailing address of his home label is in Stoughton). As creepy and weird as the album art and song titles are, this is music inspired by the long tradition of pop Halloween songs. Remember "Monster Mash"? It's not quite that level of silliness, but the over-the-top doom and gloom feels more fun than scary.

Afraid came out in early November. Unlike last year's Longing for Oblivion, this new collection of songs really leans into electronic sounds, from drum programming to weird effects to darkwave keyboards. "In the Dark" is typical of this, a tune that combines whispered, guttural vocals with synth riffs and references to corn mazes. Other highlights include "Spiritual Proof" and "Night Shift," which subvert the ghost story aesthetic just enough, pouring reverb onto the vocals, and pulling the songs out of camp and into indie folk territory. I'm curious to hear what Lonesome Wyatt sounds like live. This music is fun for Halloween, or any time you're feeling like a ghost.

Lonesome Wyatt is ???????

Scorched Waves - With a Smile (Stevens Point, WI; 2024)

Your words are better than
The ones we left unsaid

Scorched Waves comes out of Stevens Point, which has a crazy great music scene--everything from pop punk to hardcore to thrashgrass to fiddle-driven mountain punk and metal. I guess noisy is the common denominator. And this is a good, loud record. Poppy, slick, danceable alternative rock. If it was the 90s, they would be signed by some label looking for all of the above. But there are no more labels left, no one gets signed without a tiktok, and Scorched Waves plays with a desperate abandon that feels born of the long Wisconsin winters, the slushy roads, the mosquito-riddled summers, and the shitty beers of mid-sized college towns. WHICH IS TO SAY: this band is great and has delivered a uniquely weird rock album. It's got a surfy vibe, lots of downbeat rhythms, gang vocals, sweet guitar solos, some pop punk sensibilities, and cowbell. "Siren" kicks things off at maximum punk sneer, "I Need to Get Out of Here" has a psychedelic, post-punk vibe, "With a Smile," and "Because of You" make maximum use of textured keyboard drones. It's a record with lots to love and contains bop after bop for those who like to have "fun" while listening to punk.

[If you're in the area, Scorched Waves are playing a show with beloved indie synth rock iconoclasts Kat and Hurricane on December 15 at the High Noon in Madison.]

Scorched Waves is:
Tyler Armstrong - Guitar
Al Vuorinen - Bass
Jaren Wojcik - Keyboards & Auxiliary Percussion
Damian Kessler - Drums
Tiernan Brinkman - Vocals

Celebrity Sighting - ...they're just like us (Madison, WI; 2024)

One day we'll all disappear
(yeah)
Once and for all

Tyler Fassnacht has his hands in a lot of Madison projects - from his country-tinged TS Foss Band to lo-fi mainstays Proud Parents (RIP) - but this is the first time his partner Danielle Tucci (Doons) steps up to the mic and shouts her way into the scene. Celebrity Sighting is a good old fashioned, rip roaring garage punk band. Just listen to the wall of sheer noise that starts and ends the song "Survival"--this is music played with abandon. There's no pretense here, nothing clean or shiny, it's like they hit "record" on the tape deck, then held it up to the speakers. There are plenty of fun guitar moments ("Competitive Streak") and some great catchy choruses ("Climate Change"), but the record is not a subtle listen. Loud, fast, and grungy, it's the perfect antidote to digital pop music. And it's available on cassette tape!

Instruments and recording by Tyler and Doons