An evening with Sat. Nite Duets

If you’re looking for a serious band with serious music, you might want to look elsewhere. If you’re looking for a gaggle of self-professed Milwaukee boys who love their mothers and rock and roll, look no further than the up-and-coming five-piece, Sat. Nite Duets. TCD had the chance to sit down with the band before their album release show at Turner Hall.

Sat. Nite Duets is “an American rock and roll band formed by five American Boys with five American names,” says the band’s press kit. Fresh from their “Winter of Nourishment” tour, Steve, Ben, Andy, Joe and Chris are set to release their latest album, Summer of Punishment, on Feb. 28. 

Summer of Punishment offers a bright, no-nonsense tribute to the joys of living reckless, wild, and free captured in the way only twenty-somethings can manage. Influenced by the likes of Pavement, Bruce Springsteen and Guided by Voices, SND brings technical prowess and creative songwriting together to create their sound. “We all wrote songs,” said Joe. “There is no center, no front man. That’s how it’s always been. The band has no lead.”

SND spent the better part of two years writing, arranging and recording their latest record, due for release Feb. 28 on Brooklyn record label, Uninhabitable Mansions. Because members live in Milwaukee, Madison, and Chicago, the process was one of patience and collaboration.

“Summer of Punishment is an album is about summer, or at least the promise and hope of summer nights,” said Andy. “It doesn’t sound like summer, but has something to do with fun and being in the position of being disappointed. It’s a great time of possibility. ”

That unique-but-kinda-like-Pavement sound has brought the band some attention, enough so that indie sons Clap Your Hands Say Yeah invited them on a leg of their Midwestern tour. To date, they’ve played on stages in New York, Memphis, Chicago, and on Saturday, Jan. 14, at Turner Hall Ballroom for their release show.

“We love Milwaukee,” said Joe. “While the bands we played with were all very welcoming, some of the cities sucked.” The boys expressed their affection for the informality of Miltown’s social cues. “Sometimes,” added Andy, “the places you go feel alien because you don’t know anyone, and you miss being where you have friends and things that are familiar.” Ben was more concerned about how much to drink, and how much not to.

Supported by a local cast, SND took the Turner Hall stage with Catacombz and The Fatty Acids for an all-ages show that was more celebration than sell-out. An inflatable shark made its way through the crowd while bodies bobbed and twisted to the music.

When asked if being musicians was what they wanted to do when they grew up, the band was humble. “(Being a musician) isn’t about a career or a job, but you take as serious or as far as you want,” said Andy. “We’re all pretty serious, but we want to ride this as far as we can. There’s always room for a real job in terms of responsibilities or other obligations, but we’ll do as much as we can with this.”

It’s really easy to follow your dreams if you’re going to get rich doing it, but making the decision to follow that dream without guarantee takes courage. Go get ‘em boys.

Sat. Nite Duet’s new album, Summer of Punishment is available for pre-order through the band’s bandcamp page until Feb. 28. Pre-orders include an instant digital download, and the album can be streamed online until its release.