Despite the pandemic or maybe in spite of the pandemic, Milwaukee bands are continuing to release new songs — and Matt Wild has listened to most of them. Wild is one of the co-founders of Milwaukee Record, which describes itself as an online source for music, culture and gentle sarcasm.
Among the many cultural things Milwaukee Record keeps track of is a nearly exhaustive list of new music from local musicians. Wild is the curator of that list and he joins Lake Effect every month to share with us a sample of what he’s been listening to for our Milwaukee Music Roundup.
Shle Berry
"When The Snow Melts"
“[Shle Berry] said she went MIA from social media and everything, kind of stopped making music for the bulk of 2020. Now in 2021, when things are slowly getting better day by day, it’s fantastic to see Shle Berry to release a new song,” Wild says. “It’s perfect not only for the season, obviously we’re finally I think putting snow behind us and moving into the summer and also kind of putting 2020 in general behind us.”
Murphy Kaye
"Headlong"
“I was driving into my office one day, had the radio on and [Headlong] came on and it was just one of those moments where it’s like, 'Oh my goodness what is this song, I love it.' It just instantly grabbed me and I was like, 'Is this some lost Juliana Hatfield track from the ‘90s or Blake Babies or something?,' and I was just so delighted to learn that it was a local artist, Murphy Kaye,” he says.
WUWM has personal love for Murphy Kaye as she is also a former Lake Effect intern.
Devils Teeth
"Chong Li"
“It is inspired by a character from the Jean-Claude Van Damme movie Bloodsport, the film that we all know and love. We all know and love Bloodsport, of course, and we all know and love Chong Li, and apparently Devils Teeth know and love Chong Li because they made what they call a rock operetta about this character,” Wild says.
Ope
"Is This Thing On?”
This recording reaches back to the late ‘90s as it is a cover of a song by another Milwaukee band, The Promise Ring. The song originally debuted on their album Nothing Feels Good.
“It’s a fantastic song that just kind of drills itself into your head immediately and I think the cover, itself, is fantastic,” he says.
