Podcast: Solid Freex’s noise-punk explosion

The Madison father-and-sons trio play December 16 at Mickey’s Tavern.

One of the best new rock bands to emerge in Madison’s music community this year was Solid Freex, a trio consisting of a father and two sons. Sixteen-year-old Evan Coombs-Broekema plays bass, 19-year-old old Josh Coombs-Broekema plays guitar, and their dad, Steve Coombs, plays drums. All three of them share vocal duties.

Steve Coombs has been an important presence in local music for years, best known for his sometimes one-man-band project and sometimes full-band Trin Tran. But what’s really striking about Solid Freex is that Evan and Josh play really well, and are each developing distinctive voices on their instruments. The band started out playing straightforward punk and hardcore, but their music also branches out into territory that’s more dissonant and noisy. They’ve only been going for about a year, but in that time they’ve been writing a lot and playing a lot, including some shows opening up for bands like Deerhoof, Thee Oh Sees, Dead Rider, and Plastic Crimewave Syndicate.

They’ve got a one more show in Madison before the year is out, on December 16 at Mickey’s Tavern. They’ve recently finished up their first album, recorded by Bobby Hussy of The Hussy and Fire Heads and mastered by Deerhoof guitarist John Dieterich. The album is still awaiting a title and a release date, but we’re streaming the opening track, “Not About You,” below in addition to this week’s podcast. All three members of Solid Freex met up with be in late November at their practice space near downtown Madison.

Give the conversation a listen here, or subscribe to the Tone Madison podcast on Apple Podcasts. If you like what you’re hearing, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and consider supporting us financially with a few bucks a month through our Patreon.

Editor’s note: This story initially stated that the band also had a New Year’s Eve show at Mickey’s. This booking fell through, and the reference has been corrected.