The Marked Men “On the Other Side” 2018. Dirtnap Records. A punchy punky power-pop comp of all “non-LP tracks released by the Marked Men, originally released in the period between 2003 and 2010 on labels such as Dirtnap, Swami, No Idea, Shit Sandwich, and Mortville, plus 2 never-before-heard unreleased tracks” (“Disappear” and “Go Cry“). Dirtnap announced its 25th anniversary concert (festival?) scheduled for Labor Day weekend 2025 with 17 bands confirmed. I don’t think those have been revealed yet but I’m probably seeing Dirtnap Ken tomorrow night at our house so will try to get the inside scoop then. Maybe The Marked Men?? Possibly! They played at the (belated) 20th anniversary Dirtnap Fest in Madison in 2022 (video below, not mine).

According to the Bandcamp listing for On the Other Side “if there is/has been a “flagship band” for Dirtnap, Marked Men and their various offshoots are it. The band hasn’t released any new material since 2009 (the last album came out in 2008.), and they probably won’t, so this singles comp is as close to a new album as it’s going to get. Marked Men still plays a handful of shows every year, but has no plans to release any further new material.” My top picks on this comp are “Nothing’s Changed” from 2005 (on Shit Sandwich Records), the lightning fast punk’d out “Too Pretty to Fuck” and the mod-punk “Whip Myself” both from 2009 (on No Idea Records), the wicked-beated, power-chord crashing “Like Robots” from 2008 (Dirtnap) and “I Can’t Be Good” from 2003 (Mortville Records). We have several of the Marked Men’s releases (I’m pretty sure all on Dirtnap) but I think this comp might be my favorite in our collection of their material.

Various (mostly Milwaukee) Artists “Season for a Smile (Vol. 1)” 2022. A collection of mostly Milwaukee (and at least one Nashville) bands playing Christmas songs, Season for a Smile was “curated on behalf of the Team Bryce Foundation…featuring a broad range of musical genres and collaborations, from folk, power pop, rock ‘n roll, alternative dance, blues and R&B.” Like Volume 2, I’m familiar with the majority of the artists on this comp and have seen several of them perform. My top picks based on genre – Synth-pop/80’s styled dance: Ggoolldd’s “A Change at Christmas” is dreamy electro-pop (though they are not technically from Milwaukee anymore); The Quilz (also on Vol. 2  – Sage Schwarm helped produce both records) with “Christmas Wrapping” and their Nashville buddies Palm Ghosts’ “It’s Always Christmas Time” (we’ve seen Palm Ghosts play out a couple of times – they’re great!).  Rock: The Grovelers’ “Sleigh Bell Rock” is punkabilly fun and Lack of Reason’s “Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas” is straight-up rock n’ roll Christmas swagger. Folk: Testa Rosa plays “The Peace Carol” and it’s a sweet little folky number and The Carolinas’ Americana-jangly “Jesus Christ” is lovely. Two bands I am not familiar with but stand out: Keedy’s “Little Drummer Boy” is great dream pop similar to Ggoolldd and Squirrel’s “Final Ocho Kandelikas” about Hanukkah, sung in Ladino performed in an Argentine tango rhythm. This LP is another great local comp for our holiday music collection.

Various (Milwaukee) Artists “Season For a Smile Vol. 2” 2024. A limited edition collection of holiday songs by local Milwaukee musicians to benefit the Team Bryce Foundation which is dedicated to “facilitate improving the lives of children with special needs and their families by helping them achieve their full potential through participation in sports and other activities.” The first track, “Here It is Christmastime” by Driveway Thriftdwellers even features Bryce Tock, the foundation founder’s son who is the inspiration for the organization. I’m familiar with most of the bands on this comp (and know a few personally): there’s the big name BoDeans (though I’m assuming they appear here without founding member Sam Llanas; there’s some really bad blood between him and the other founder Kurt Neumann) on “Christmas Everyday,” local fave Trapper Schoepp joins forces with bluegrass band Chicken Wire Empire on the sad “Christmas in Prison” and Tigera performs “Every Other Day.” A special nod to my friends The Quilz, a fantastic new-wave dream pop duo, who play “Wonderful Christmastime.” (Quilz member Sage Scwarm is one of the LP’s producers.)

But I really want to highlight “O Holy Night” by Heart of Black. I’m so thrilled to finally have something tangible by this band (who I’ve never seen perform but that’s on me – they play out all the time in the greater Milwaukee area). Heart of Black play heavy rock/alternative dance, a mix of covers (influences include Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, The Cure, Nine Inch Nails) and originals (their song “Down” won the WAMI award for Best Video of 2024 – it is alt-metal and NOT Christmasy). We met Heart of Blacks’ singer Marcus in 2022 in Ibiza, Spain in one of the most random, kismet experiences ever. We had just arrived at our hotel, located right on the Mediterranean, and were hanging out on the patio waiting for our room to be ready for check-in. The couple next to our table leaned over and asked “Are you from Milwaukee?” We thought it was our accent! But no, they noticed Joe’s WMSE shoulder bag. Turns out they were from ‘Tosa and Marcus is huge Duran Duran fan and they were in Ibiza for the Duran three-day festival, same as us. We ended up seeing him and his wife (whose name now escapes me) on and off for the remainder of our time there, including the nail-biting final festival evening where we essentially had to dodge the law to secure a last-second shared ride to the Duran concert from our hotel. The topping was the next morning when our connecting flight to Madrid was running very late and we had to sprint at top speed through the Madrid airport to catch our international flight home. We just made it, gasping, sweating, onto the plane and there, towards the front, were Marcus and wife applauding our dramatic arrival onto the plane. I haven’t seen them since but am enjoying the heck out of their over-the-top last track on Seasons for the Smile – which feels almost as epic as that Ibiza weekend.