Spoken word with music still calls up images from midcentury bohemia—a coffee shop, a poet with a microphone and some guy playing bongos. Charles Ries is an accomplished Milwaukee poet whose sonic scope is considerably widened thanks to his collaboration with a group of ace local musicians, The MinkTronics.
“We want to be a band that tells a perplexing story in a particular way,” Ries says, explaining their new digital single. An ominous undercurrent travels beneath “Giant,” opening with classic rock guitar riffs, diverts into ‘70s avant-garde loft jazz before segueing into fusion and circling back to rock. “You’re not who you used to be since you started listening to me,” Ries speaks, enigmatically.
“The music needs to match the story,” says drummer-producer Ron Baake. “It’s ‘Let’s make poetry and music!’ We want it to be music meets poetry and produces feeling.’”
