What Made Milwaukee Famous - Trying To Never Catch Up

What Made Milwaukee Famous is quite the ambitious name for a band. Not that there is necessarily a lot in Milwaukee to compete with that I can think of off-hand (apart from Old Milwaukee that is), but that’s still a lot of ambivalence for this band to make up for. But for a self-released debut album, these boys are off to a great start at putting Milwaukee back on the map. Mixing vocal harmonies with spastic keys, running up and down the scale, WMMF blends Death Cab for Cutie / John Vanderslice rock with the swagger of Austin counterparts Spoon. The result is a delightful and dynamic 11 track venture that is experimental and varied yet familiar and accessible. Genres merge from power-pop, to surf rock, to retro revival rock, but never settle on one long enough to pigeonholed the group. Tracks drudge in the cold and frolic in the sun, back to back without an awkward transition. Through consistent leading vocals and an ever-present use of keyboards, the continuity of the album is established and driven home. Keyboards (Rhodes and otherwise) are the definite weapon of choice for the band, using guitar only for minimalistic spurts of stripped electric or the backing wall of distorted guitar when appropriate. Sometimes the mix of levels seem a little off, as vocals or keys dominate over percussion and guitar/bass, kinks that over time feel like they can be ironed out by more focused production. However, despite some of its pitfalls Trying to Never Catch Up is a refined and well-directed offering. As the band matures their sound and go into the studio with a seasoned producer it will be interesting to see the results. But until that day, this will serve just fine as a tantalize testament of what might be. [www.whatmademilwaukeefamous.com]