Smoke Free Home “Bad News” 2023. SFH Records (self-released), 4 song EP on yellow vinyl from Oshkosh, WI-based dance punks. We finally caught SFH this past weekend at Mile of Music; they’ve been on my radar for awhile now and I was not disappointed. They are GREAT! Fun and snotty with a delivery reminiscent of 80’s punk – think Dead Kennedys but musically low-end only;  Smoke Free Home are a three piece with drums (Alex Lautenschlager), bass (Kevin Sonnleitner) and vocals and it 100% works, in fact I think it took us two or three songs into their performance at Rookies in Appleton to realize there wasn’t any guitar. The lead track on this 7″ EP “Bootstraps” is hilarious and a mega ass-shaker (extra funny was that singer Jesse Tubeszewski announced his boss was in the audience and the lyrics to this track are somewhat about going to work) and was for sure a highlight of their performance. The second track “Run” has some sophisticated tempos and a darker edge to it but it still has some serious dance vibes. “Pressure” is dancey too, with a lyrical and musical breakdown (literal and figurative) midway through. The last track, “Stones” has a buzzy grunge flavor, leaning a bit 90’s/aughts emo-punk (not my jam but it’s a’right).

Joe chatted with the band at the merch table after the show (I ran into a guy from high school I haven’t seen since ’89 so was reliving some of my own 80’s punk memories with him) – SFH play out quite a bit but mostly basement shows, to which we are apparently invited but I’m pretty sure we’ve aged out of that scene, as fun as it probably would be.