What to do? The new new wave is washing over Milwaukee on Monday and I can only be in one place at a time. Since I'm already committed to seeing The Fratellis at The Pabst, I can only wish there was also a way to see Interpol at The Rave, too.
In cities like New York, London and L.A. this is a common dilemma, but in Milwaukee it's rare that a single night has two bands vying for the same audience.
That's not to say the bands are exactly alike; of course they're not, even though they draw inspiration from the British post-punk of the late '70s and early '80s.
While The Fratellis are melodic, good time music a la The Members or The Undertones, it's safe to say that New York's Interpol -- like Britain's Editors and like me -- are in possession of more than one Joy Division record.
The band plays the same kind of intense, guitar-driven art rock as the late Ian Curtis and company, with the same kind of dark overtones and furious rhythm section.
One major difference now is that Interpol has released its third LP ("Our Love to Admire" is their first for Capitol Records), while Joy Division never got that far (the Mancunians' third disc, "Still," was a posthumous affair).
I know, it's not fair for me to push the Joy Division connection and if they read this, they'll hate me for it. Interpol is a talented group -- and one I like -- that has its own personality. But even I admit The Jam's Who jones was obvious in the early days and they remain my favorite rock and roll band.
On "Our Love to Admire," the opener, "Pioneer to the Falls," has a cinematic quality, conjuring, certainly, Curtis, but also Morricone and Rota, "All Fired Up" is a modern rock symphony of layered guitars and "Wrecking Ball" is a thundering art-rock chiaroscuro.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
