We Like Like The The The Milwaukee Milwaukee Music Music Music Scene

Assuming a marathon weekend session of “House Of Cards” Season 2 hasn’t already killed you, it’s time to dive headlong into the screeching subway car known as another action-packed week of Milwaukee music. The bands! The music! The venues! The cufflinks-as-thinly-veiled-message-to-the-audience! Okay, maybe not the last one (that would be a certain Netflix series), but you get the idea. (Oh, spoiler alert!)

Every few years someone gets the bright idea to assemble a sampler album of the city’s many bands and artists. These collections are hit-or-miss by design, but they do serve as fascinating snapshots of a particular moment in Milwaukee’s music scene. The IndieMKE series—which celebrates the release of its second compilation tonight—is no different, putting deserving artists like Trapper Schoepp And The Shades and Kane Place Record Club next to bands that typically only play WAMI showcases. Tonight’s show at Turner Hall features Semi Twang, John Sieger, Greg Koch, Annie B. And The Complication, Panalure, and Crooked Keys.

Thursday, February 20
Like Like The The The Death at Riverwest Public House

When it comes time to name the best Milwaukee songs of the 2010s, “Holy Ghosty” by Like Like The The The Death will likely be near the top of the list. From 2012’s Ghosts Of Dead Bros, the track is a bouncy, unstoppable noise-rock earworm of the highest order. The songs from last year’s Cave Jenny are no slouches, either, and solidify LLTTTD as one of the city’s finer post-rock noise outfits.

Thursday, February 20
Alejandro Escovedo and Peter Buck at Turner Hall

If you’ve been jonesing for a hit of R.E.M. (and the Peter Buck/Mike Mills side gig The Baseball Project hews too close to Rock Bottom Remainders territory for your tastes), you could do worse than see Buck team up with heartland troubadour Alejandro Escovedo. Buck will open the show with material from his upcoming album, I Am Back To Blow Your Mind Once Again, before assuming guitar duties for Escovedo’s set. Even better: Tonight’s show is Escovedo and Buck’s tour opener—a tour that will hit only eight cities.

Friday, February 21
Scrimshaw at Circle-A

In a time when many bands measure their success by Twitter followers, it’s refreshing to see a group that simply doesn’t give a shit. Scrimshaw is one of those bands, a guitar-and-drums duo that crank out dozens of willfully weird, potentially brain-damaged songs with titles like “Tiny Belt” and “Donkey Venom” just because they can. (Think a more danceable Ween.) Appropriately, tonight’s show is a double album release; picking up a CD will be the only way to get a hold of these songs, since Scrimshaw doesn’t seem to care about things like Bandcamp, either.

Saturday, February 22
MELT at Stonefly

For the past three years, the monthly MELT series has given the city’s many electronic and experimental acts a much-deserved spotlight. Mastermind Paul Demix would probably be the first to admit that MELT isn’t for everyone, but for those who kneel at the alter of noise and synth, it’s become an invaluable rallying point for an oft-overlooked scene. Demix celebrates three years of MELT tonight with music from Stagediver, Stunt Rock, adoptahighway, Horseforce, Bishop, Donny And The Robot, and Moriokun.