It's been a long time coming. The better part of a decade has passed since The Response formed here in Milwaukee, and in local band years, that span usually translates to "disbanded."
Interestingly enough, for The Response, it's turned out to mean, "We're ready," and what the band has to share with us Saturday has been well worth the wait.
"With Friends Like You, Who Needs Enemies?" -- the foursome's first official full-length album -- surfaces Dec. 22, and the band celebrates with a record release show at Turner Hall Ballroom. Fable & The World Flat, From The Headline and Kid and You'll Move Mountains round out the bill.
For the last six years The Response has featured singer / guitar player Steve Kerwin, bass player Mikey Blanchard, guitar player / backing vocalist Peter Rogers and drummer Jesus Zuniga. Earlier this fall, however, the band parted ways with Zuniga, replacing him with drummer Jon Kraft, formerly of Since By Man.
"We've always been friends with Jon, so our dynamic is just the same as before, only now we get to play together," says Kerwin. "We love and miss Jessie (Jesus) and couldn't have done a lot of what we accomplished without him, but now the group is a little more on the same page."
And what that page consists of is a mixed bag. On the one hand, the band is a powerful pop force, flying through punchy anthems with strained, yet harmonized, vocal chords and commanding sarcasm.
On the other hand, what makes this music retain its sense of independence and intrigue is actually its sense of subtlety. A careful listener soon discovers -- under thick layers of indie rock aggression -- jazzy intros blanketed in honest insight and soft edges displaying a damaged heart on a stained shirt sleeve.
But, whether the members of The Response are pushing power chords or poetry, there's no denying that these guys know their way around a hook. "With Friends Like You, Who Needs Enemies?" plays out like a trip through time -- not in the sense that it sounds dated, but rather like its rich in personal history. Two the songs from the split EP the band did with the emo-esque band Welton a few years back -- "War of the Roses" and "If You Only Knew" -- have been revisited to make the album cut.
"Most of the songs on the record were written at the same time, if not before we started recording it -- which was a while ago," says Blanchard. "So for us, the record tells the story of us struggling to get this record out. Some of the songs are a little dated, but reminds us of where we were then, as a band and as individuals. On the other hand, it turns over a new leaf as to what we're still capable of and what we want to do."
With the record finally released, the band is on to new projects, including a video for "Alright, Who Wants A Mustache Ride?," featuring the band on a bike tour de Milwaukee, with some familiar sights -- Comet Café's delicious Bloody Marys, the UWM Union and a snack at Brady Street's Dogg Haus.
Yep, The Response is true blue Brew City, and it shows. Then again, with a promising debut album on the loose, who knows where it might end up?
"We're not on a label for now," says Rogers. "We wouldn't be here without help from Milwaukee's Latest Flame, or Action Heights Records, but since they disbanded, we've been free-agents ... so hint, hint."
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
