Madison-connected musicians keep pushing forward

A celebration of July and August releases from artists with Madison roots.

Madison’s music landscape can be a fickle thing. Venues close, bands end or move, and new locations and artists spring up to take their place. When there are moments of consistency, it’s notable. A lot of the names featured on this list are familiar, because these artists have put in genuine time, effort, and work into sustaining and promoting their craft. Some names may not be as familiar, but the musicians involved have been showing a tendency for steadfast determination: all six acts are stubbornly pushing forward, in various respects. For better or worse, that stubbornness is a required trait for making an impression in every Madison media field (ask us how we know).

A handful of genuinely memorable releases debuted over the course of July and August. The six releases featured here run a genre gamut that does, admittedly, lean fairly heavily on the spheres of indie- rock, pop, and folk. A bit of hardcore and some genre-defiant musical collage work is represented, and electronic impulses also play a role. But we are always on the lookout for music that drifts out into less accessible corners and doesn’t fall under those umbrellas, so if you’re a part of a Madison-based musical project or have been listening to one that you think we should know about, feel free to reach out to us through my line: steven@tonemadison.com. Here at Tone Madison, we’re happy to listen to the new Madison-based releases that cross our proverbial desk, and tuck those away for future coverage consideration.

In the meantime, enjoy some truly excellent recent music from Madison-connected bands. If you’re able, consider supporting these acts and releases with a purchase via Bandcamp or by attending their shows. 

Baby Tyler Band, Baby Tyler Band

Guitarist/vocalist Tyler Fassnacht‘s main project for the past 10 years—Proud Parents—played their final show at the end of August. The sugar-rush power-pop quartet’s legacy, however, lives on through a large handful of acts the band’s members are spearheading (including the recently-announced Celebrity Sighting). Fassnacht’s Baby Tyler Band, which started as a solo peppy indie-punk project before pivoting to brash and bratty hardcore and expanding into a full band, is one of those acts. Baby Tyler Band is the quintet’s eponymous album, and the debut of the band as a full collective. (Fassnacht previously released several records as Baby Tyler, sans the “Band.”) That distinction is a very literal one: Baby Tyler Band was recorded the night before the 2022 public debut of the Baby Tyler Band.

As both a debut and a reintroduction, Baby Tyler Band effortlessly commands attention. Fassnacht’s caterwauling vocals, often somewhere between a full-throated yell and an unhinged scream, are backed by a superlative quartet. Proud Parents’ Liam Casey (guitar) and Heather Sawyer (drums) both factor into the Baby Tyler Band lineup, as do the seemingly-everywhere Graham Hunt (guitar) and Griffin Beltrane (bass). Hunt, in particular, flexes some of the flashy hardcore muscle that made the Milwaukee-based Midwives so compelling during their run (best heard on “The Top“), and the rest of the band tees off on their respective instruments. Baby Tyler Band is a lean, mean collection of indie-punk-influenced hardcore, and makes no bones about its scrappy lethality.

Combat Naps, “Sunbeam Bully“

Multi-instrumentalist Neal Jochmann has been busy. Whether it has been through Combat Naps, the Graham Hunt Band, Loveblaster, or a number of other projects the musician has involved himself with, Jochmann has been an increasingly-visible force in Madison music. With Combat Naps, Jochmann’s main project, the musician has the opportunity to demonstrate the bulk of his creative muscle. Combat Naps’ White Page and Tap In were both 2023 highlights, and Jochmann is following them up with a strong run of 2024 tracks that began with “I Thought You Hated Me (First Version)” and “Cherry Bomb Mahogany.”

“Sunbeam Bully,” the project’s latest track, is an indie-pop wonder. Jochmann navigates the track’s many abrupt tempo changes and unpredictable swings with an arresting panache. “Are you not a sunbeam / Little child, ‘cuz your life is glad / Got brightness that I never had / Knowing that god has gotta bless you / Scatter light divine / Sunbeam bully gotta die or shine,” he sings in the song’s beautiful center section. Buoyed by jumpy bass, bluesy piano figures, falsetto vocal hops, and some killer guitar riffing, “Sunbeam Bully” strikes a chord all its own.

Drive-A-Tron, “Break Your Heart“

Paul Vash’s Drive-A-Tron project consistently finds ways to blend indie-rock, electro-pop, and dance-punk into something intoxicating. “Break Your Heart,” a new track that features backing vocals from Raddish‘s Gracie Venechuk, is the latest in a string of sterling tracks from Vash. (The track’s credits also extend an individual thanks to the prolific Madison-based musician Cal Lamore, who released an exceptional Americana-punk EP in July.) As stylistic touchpoints, the indie-pop act Raddish and Lamore offer a fascinating range of diversity that’s well reflected by Drive-A-Tron’s kaleidoscopic, pop-minded approach to songwriting. Vash pulls from a number of musical corners for Drive-A-Tron, but always ties them into a colorful and compelling tapestry. 

“Break Your Heart” brings to mind acts like Wolf Parade, LCD Soundsystem, Menomena, and especially Perfume Genius as it slinks and struts through a three and a half minute runtime. Vash exudes confidence on the track, as layers of immediately-pleasing instrumentation cascade over the songwriter’s vocals. “Woke from a dream / Which means I overslept / The coffee’s made / Which means you already left,” sings Vash in the chorus, perfectly underpinning the hazy sentimentality reflected by the track’s bittersweet music.

Interlay, Hunting Jacket

Before post-punk quartet Interlay departed Madison for Chicago, they wrote a number of new tracks, including every single song on the band’s latest, the Hunting Jacket EP. Hunting Jacket‘s six scintillating numbers put a fine endpoint on Interlay’s time in Madison. The songs also create an audaciously high watermark for the band’s burgeoning career. “Virgin Mary,” Hunting Jacket‘s take-no-prisoners opener, immediately sets the template for the songs to follow. Anthemic, brooding, and spiked with venom, the track’s a coiled rattlesnake eyeing the perfect time to strike and committing to the follow-through.

Every song on Hunting Jacket sounds enormous, with guitarist/vocalist Alexandria Ortgiesen leading the collective charge. Ortgiesen’s vocals oscillate between a whispery rasp and a bellowing death rattle, infusing Hunting Jacket with an emphatically gothic tint. Drummer Henry Ptacek, bassist Kayla Chung, and guitarist/vocalist Sam Eklund are all locked in with each other—and Ortgiesen—on Hunting Jacket. Live, they’re a wrecking ball of unrestrained force and velocity (a dynamic that was on full display during Interlay’s Madison-area release show for the EP at High Noon Saloon). With Hunting Jacket, they’ve finally found a way to translate that energy into a recording. And if you’re fortunate enough to snag a physical copy, then you’ll also have access to some groove-heavy electro-dance tracks Ptacek cooked up in his spare time.

MEDLÉN, MEDLÉN

“Lo-fi post-industrial. Folk-expressionist. Concert orchestrations.” MEDLÉN—the duo of multi-instrumentalists Hannah Edlén and Nate Meng—use all three of those genre descriptors for their new self-titled album. Each item in that trio of disparate genre tags underlines the duo’s penchant for the unexpected. MEDLÉN is an amorphous, intoxicating, and quietly unsettling cocktail of fiery impulse. A trait best highlighted by “Future Fire Alarm,” which takes wild swings into different directions with conviction and impunity.

Edlén and Meng don’t overly concern themselves with traditional form or genre, and the duo revels in the nature of surprise. Steady backbeats and driving bass lines are punctuated with atmospherics and calculated instructions from a host of instruments. Unexpected flights of fancy are a core machination of MEDLÉN‘s musical identity, and those eyebrow-raising moments fuel the album’s journey through a number of twists and turns. An incredibly wide swath of genre influences bleed through into MEDLÉN, but Edlén and Meng corral them into an eye-widening run of gripping musical exploration.

The Spine Stealers, “Tired“

Guitarist/vocalists Emma O’Shea and Kate Ruland—the songwriters who constitute indie-folk duo The Spine Stealers—are consistently turning listeners’ heads. Over the past few years, the band has been building a still-growing audience and an ascendant reputation as songwriters and performers. “Tired,” the band’s latest original track, ably demonstrates the duo’s prevailing appeal. A gentle lilt, some light acoustic strumming, gorgeous melodic guitar work from Ruland on electric guitar, and from auxiliary member James Grenier on pedal steel all coalesce into a wistful elegy. This is music to sink into and get lost in; a cool bed sheet clinging to the skin on a hot summer night.

“Tired” is intimate, familiar, and profoundly comforting. “Let’s not pretend we don’t see the dawn / I’ll be gone before you get the lights on,” sings O’Shea in the song’s closing moments. It’s a line that perfectly (and painfully) illustrates the narrator’s quasi-conflicted cross-section of perpetual movement and noncommittal indecision. Ostensibly a sorrowful breakup song, “Tired” nonetheless carries a twinge of hope. The past is relative and finite, but the morning horizon is sprawling and endless. In addition to “Tired,” the duo also released a potent musical rendition of Lord Byron’s poem “To Emma,” written by Byron for his distant cousin (and temporary love interest) Mary Chaworth. Like “Tired,” “To Emma” underlines the duo’s penchant for damaged romanticism, communicating both heartrending tragedy and simmering affection with aplomb.

The Spine Stealers are presently in the midst of a Kickstarter fundraiser for their debut album, which you can back here.