Wisconsin Space Program Takes Off
The band's debut album, 'Sun in Your Hands," is a psychedelic journey.
Wisconsin Space Program. Photo courtesy of the band.
There is no job too perilous for the intergalactic bounty hunter Raygun. After all, she defeated a literal God inside of a black hole, emerging victorious from the other side and crossing yet another name off her “Most Wanted” ledger. With no family back on Earth, Raygun doesn’t think twice about taking any job, and if you see her ship coming, it’s already too late for you.
While this may sound like something from a vintage science fiction novel, this story is actually what the lyrics to the song “Raygun,” by the band Wisconsin Space Program, is about. Set to the backdrop of proggy psychedelic rock and roll, Wisconsin Space Program spins tales that range from sci-fi epics to more abstract celestial ideas. It’s a shift from what Sean Anderson, the band’s vocalist and bassist, is used to writing about.
“Lyrically, in my past bands and solo stuff, I feel like I’m always writing about myself and internal struggles,” Anderson says. “For this band, I wanted it to be a new outlet. None of this has to be super serious.”
Wisconsin Space Program is the newest musical endeavor by Anderson, who also plays in Brett Newski & the Bad Inventions and has released solo music under the name Supertentacles. He’s joined by vocalist and guitarist Kevin Topel, who he shares writing duties with, and drummer Joe Wilinksi. Anderson and Topel met through a mutual friend, and after playing in a Beatles cover band together, began talking about their love of psyche music.
“(Topel) was talking about starting a band and I wanted to stray from indie rock,” Anderson says. “Just knowing how good of a musician (Topel) is, I was all aboard.”
The group started jamming together in 2024 and Wisconsin Space Program was born soon after. While the name of the band has no specific meaning behind it, it’s a nod to psyche bands with long names like King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, where the name leaves much to the imagination of potential listeners and is more fun than it is meaningful.
“You’re able to do a lot with something called Wisconsin Space Program, and I think for us it was more about the nod to our home state than it was about space themes,” Anderson says.
After forming, the band wasted little time in releasing its first single “She Rides On.” The song serves as a sample platter of what you can expect from the band: Vocal harmonies, lyrical storytelling and plenty of twists and turns that almost always lead to a proggy jam session.
“Its one of the earliest songs we worked on as a band and it’s a blueprint for what we wanted to do,” Anderson says.
Fans who enjoyed that single didn’t have to wait much longer for more music from the band – in June, Wisconsin Space Program released Sun in Your Hands, its debut full-length album. Throughout its ten tracks, the record spans from Beach-Boys-inspired rock to grittier fuzzed out jams and includes a rerecorded version of “She Rides On.”
“There’re a couple of different flavors on the album,” Anderson says. “There are heavier and more modern fuzzed out stoner rock tracks, and some of it leans towards (Jimi) Hendrix,” Anderson says.
The positive vibe of opener “Breakaway” hits the listener like a ray of the album’s titular sunshine, delivering a more straight-forward 70’s inspired sound. Its tracks like this one and the eponymous “Sun in Your Hands” where you can hear the band’s love of The Beatles shine through, especially in the vocal harmonies. This juxtaposition of this often soft, Beatles-esque vocal style of both Anderson and Topel layered over complex instrumentation is a major aspect that separates Wisconsin Space Program from other Midwest bands in the genre.
Sun in Your Hands continues to bounce between these more 60’s inspired tracks to grittier psyche rock numbers. There’s a particular moment towards the end of “Dream Eater” where a dance between two harmonious guitar parts descends into one of the heaviest parts on the album, only to lead into the happy-go-lucky “Sun in Your Hands.” The shortest song on the record, “Dead Man’s Curve,” is a straight up rock and roll track filled with searing solos, proving that psyche rock doesn’t always need five minutes or more to get its point across. “World on Fire,” arguably the slowest number on the album, is a homesick ballad written from the perspective of a fictional soldier at war. It’s one of Anderson’s personal favorites.
“I thought the lyrics didn’t mean anything but they hit home now for personal reasons,” Anderson says. “It just turned out beautiful and it’s probably the black sheep of the album. It sounds like a Crosby Stills or Creedence Clear Water song, but I think it fits in there very nicely.”
Wisconsin Space Program’s debut plays out like an anthology of short stories – there’s no overarching theme to these songs lyrically, and they all draw on different psyche rock influences. It’s an album that simultaneously sounds both old and new – whether you’re a fan of rock from a bygone era, or you’re into more contemporary icons from the genre like King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, you’re sure to find a song that pulls you in.
And before you know it, the band will have convinced you to join Raygun on her next adventure.
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