The result is an album that plays like an especially participatory concert, though King is quick to note that it’s not actually a substitute...

This week on The Disclaimer, WMSE's near-weekly klatch between station promotions director Ryan Schleicher, A.V. Club Milwaukee editor Matt Wild and I, I float the theory that indie-rock is in decline, and explain why that might be a good thing. The once-inordinately influential genre no longer dominates conversations around music and culture the way it did in the mid-'00s, as the very term "indie...

Summerfest has been gradually announcing its 2013 Marcus Amphitheater headliners for months now, but it’s stayed mum on side-stage acts. That changed today, when breaking from its usual tradition of announcing grounds stage performers in small chunks, the festival revealed the meat of its lineup in one massive drop. Comedian Lewis Black (who will be returning to the festival this year) revealed ...

Last time I checked, Independence Day was still a long way off. But this weekend, there were fireworks. Indie rock dynamo Local Natives met a frenzied capacity crowd Friday night at the Riverside Theater, with explosive results.

 Everything you need to know about Frightened Rabbit comes from a place: Scotland. That’s the home of the indie rock band, and its culture has informed Frightened Rabbit leader Scott Hutchinson—which means you’ll rarely hear

Formed in 1993, Minnesota-based slowcore pioneers Low have lived through tremendous changes within the world of underground music. Such history affords them elder statesmen status at this point, and the strength

With the group's third CD, Certain Stars begs the question: Just what is "indie" rock? The Milwaukee/Chicago quartet (which takes its name from a Superchunk song) offers a profusion of...

It's hard to believe that Teenage Pagans, the 12-song debut album from Appleton-based Technicolor Teeth, was made by a collection of musicians a few years out of high school. Teenage Pagans sounds confident and cohesive, as if the players...

Manchester Orchestra isn’t from Manchester, nor is it an orchestra. It’s a rock band from Atlanta with some strong opinions on the state of commercial rock. “I think there’s definitely something lacking in popular rock music today, especially what gets played on the radio,” keyboardist Chris Freeman says. “You get Nickelback and Creed. We need something a lot more daring and challenging...

Even before the indie-dance boom of half a decade ago, The Faint were playing glamorous, danceable synth-rock, marked by retro New Order arrangements and big, catchy choruses�their libidinous signature track, "Worked Up So Sexual," still outshines 99% of all dance-punk. The Saddle Creek alums toned things down for their most recent albums, 2004's Wet From Birth and last year's Fascination, opting ...