White Problems Pick Up Where Predecessors Left Off

Theaverage life span of a band in Milwaukeeis remarkably short. It seems as if the most promising groups the city hasproduced during the last few years have broken up right as they appeared poisedfor bigger and better things. Yet one can take some consolation in the factthat the players from these fractured groups often come together to form newbands. Such is the case with Milwaukeeupstarts White Problems, a band that has risen from the ashes of fallen localfavorites Freight, Pigs on Ice and Wolfbite. Featuring Brian Rogers on vocals,Brian Whitney on bass and Chuck Engel on drums, the band aims to pick up wherethese respective projects left off.

Inmany ways, White Problems’ material comes across like a perfect marriagebetween all of the band members’ former groups. Songs like “Jobs,” “Dude,Where’s My Flix?” and “Ruined Lunch on a Day at the Beach” sound like avolatile mix of early-’80s Los Angeles punk (think Flipper and Black Flag) andearly-’90s Touch and Go mainstays like the Jesus Lizard (asked to comment onthis, Whitney notes, tongue-in-cheek, “Oh … yeah, we don’t listen to the JesusLizard”). While the band is clearly influenced by those that came before them,they have found a way to make this familiar sound both fresh and relevant. Onekey to the band’s success is the vocals of Rogers. There’s an unhinged quality to hisperformance, one that wonderfully complements the racket that Whitney and Engelare able to whip up behind him. Yet the noise never overwhelms, and there is acertain catchiness to the band’s material.

Listenerswill have a number of chances to check out this material in the near future. Abrief summer tour with the Atlanta-based band Hawks led to an offer to recordfor TransRuin Records, a label co-run by Hawks singer Mike Keenan. “We becamebuds,” Rogersexplains, “and he offered to put out our record.” The band has also recordedfor a split 7-inch with New Jersey’s Rapid Cities and for another split singlewith Milwaukee’s own Group of the Altos, whose atmospheric instrumentals arelittle like White Problems’ short bursts of raw energy. The band is alsoplanning to venture out of Milwaukee once again,with upcoming gigs in Madison, Clevelandand Detroit.

Onehopes that such projects and travel plans bode well for the future of WhiteProblems. There is a distinct aesthetic developing in the Milwaukee underground, one that eschewspolished production and easy hooks for a sound much more challenging. Bandslike Pigs on Ice could have exposed this sound to a wider audience; let’s hopeWhite Problems can last a bit longer. Catch them now, so you can say you sawthem before they blew up. Or at least before they broke up.

White Problems tops a March 6 bill at theCactus Club at 10 p.m. with Possible Fathers and Harps of Tartarus.