The Hallelujah Ward “Everybody Swoons” 2025. Foreign Leisure Records, limited edition blue/grey marbled vinyl. Shimmery, guitar/vocals forward indie pop from Milwaukee. We caught The Hallelujah Ward last week at Andoyne as part of the WMSE Local/Live series: SO FUN! Not our first time seeing the band (nor our last) but first time getting to hear the band (mostly singer/guitarist Mark Waldoch) interviewed in a live setting. We learned – and laughed – a lot, including getting a full reading of the Hallelujah Ward manifesto. I believe he also said the record was something like 5 years in the making, started during the pandemic when he first worked out the guitar licks for the LP. Waldoch is backed by MKE celeb drummer Dan Didier (in, like, a zillion bands – currently also in Fight Dice, formerly in The Promise Ring, Maritime and Dramatic Lovers, though the latter might still be a thing?) and bassist Paul Hancock (I guess the band has gone through a few bassists since its inception).

They played most of the tracks during their set, including some of my favorites from the album. The opener “Your Uncertain Shadow” (its video a love letter to Milwaukee from Waldoch who is – both in the video and in real life – a true man about town. In fact, I’m fairly certain the tunnel he walks through at one point is at the end of our street), “Crown” (a seething nod to he-who-shall-not-be-named at the show), the heartbreaking and anthemic “Nobody’s Ghost,” the excellent rocker “Diet Suicide” (on the LP singer Liv Mueller from The Lovelies joins on vocals) and the jaw-dropping “The Ring of Brightest Angels, Around Heaven.” While the 80’s and 90’s influences are strong (even if I couldn’t hear them, we’ve seen Waldoch at a ton of shows like Echo and the Bunnymen, Psychedelic Furs, Love and Rockets and The Cure: Waldoch is a Cure megafan), Everybody Swoons is not steeped in nostalgia, rather it feels very modern both in the songwriting and production. You can watch/listen to the entire set in video linked below the video for “Your Uncertain Shadow.”