Milwaukee's 1956 gets better with age. After a couple of early releases steeped in crushingly heavy alt-rock riffs and Helmet-inspired screeds, the trio matured in satisfying directions on their 2007 record, Saboteur, which they spent...

Every band’s life span varies. Some buzz bands garner hype even before releasing their debut album, only to burn out after an underwhelming follow-up. Other, more established groups feel the strain of heavy touring, eventually breaking up for divisive creative reasons. And many outfits don’t survive more than a few...

Milwaukee’s 1956 pounds out the heavy, chugging alternative-rock riffs that proliferated throughout the early ’90s, but underneath the grind, the band reveals an unexpected softer side. “Persistent,” one of the standout tracks from the group’s measured 2007 album, Saboteur, is steeped in the same bleary-eyed pensiveness that made The National’s Boxer such a treat. Today the band plays as part of a long lineup of local...

Record Store Day began last year as an attempt to lure traffic to often-struggling independent music stores with a series of ultra-rare, Record Store Day-only releases. This year’s crop of collectibles includes releases from Bob Dylan, The Smiths, Pavement, The Hold Steady and The Flaming Lips, and will be sold at both Exclusive Company locations as well as Rush-Mor Records. The Exclusive Company’s locations will be hosting all-day line-ups of local bands, while Rush-Mor will...

Dan DuChaine may be the only record store owner who's actually trying to drive traffic away from his shop on Record Store Day, an annual event created last year to draw attention to independent record stores. While shops around the country will be celebrating with in-store performances and promotions on Saturday, April 18, DuChaine is instead pushing a Pabst Blue Ribbon-sponsored Bay View pub crawl, which...

Milwaukee’s 1956 gets better with age. After a couple of early releases steeped in crushingly heavy alt-rock riffs and Helmet-inspired screeds, the alt-rock trio matured in satisfying directions on their 2007 record, Saboteur, which they spent years crafting. Swapping some of their hard-rock swagger for bleary-eyed sighs, the disc almost strikes the same melancholic tone as The National’s Boxer—another album by a band that mellowed...

Milwaukee’s 1956 pounds out the heavy, chugging alternative-rock riffs like the ones that proliferated throughout the early ’90s, but underneath the grind, the band reveals an unexpected softer side. “Persistent,” one of the standout tracks from the group’s measured 2007 album, Saboteur, is steeped in the . . .

Barbara Walters @ Alverno’s Pitman Theatre, 7 p.m. Who would want to know the lurid details of iconic journalist Barbara Walters’ sex life? Apparently plenty of people. This year the queen of celebrity interviews, so adept at scooping her competition, turned the spotlight on herself with the announcement that...