Milwaukee’s Saltshakers celebrate their tenth anniversary in ’90s retro-style with a three-track CD EP. The band has compared itself to Oasis, but may remind listeners of The Undertones, the under-appreciated Irish punks diverse enough throughout their career to have recorded the spunky "Teenage Kicks" and the sumptuous "Julie Ocean."
The triptych on Halley falls squarely between the aforementioned songs with guitars buzzing and jangling. Singer Chad Curtis comes on eager and earnest, whether serenading a shooting star or an unfathomable woman. Within that aural niche where pop-punk meets power-pop and indie guitar rock, The Saltshakers have their own sort of nostalgic, sort of modern thing going and going well.