Photo by Rachel Buth
When bands title a song after themselves, that song almost always doubles as a mission statement. Platinum Boys’ “Platinum Boys” is no exception, opening the Milwaukee power-pop group’s debut album Future Hits by laying out the band’s unapologetic fascination with long, boozy nights spent cruising for drugs and sex—and sometimes love, but mostly drugs and sex. And sure enough, the remaining eight songs all follow the same gleefully debauched template. Sometimes the drugs are different, and sometimes the sex is hazier than others, but the album never stops chasing cheap thrills. The band could’ve easily titled every one of these songs “Platinum Boys.”
Platinum Boys’ M.O. may sound basic, but it’s not easy to pull off music this single-minded. Bands that play up the sleaze too much risk heading into misogynistic, cock-rock territory. On the other hand, bands that whitewash it or play it too glibly can come across as a one-note joke, an ironic commentary on gutter rock rather than a dispatch from the trenches. Platinum Boys may wear big smiles when they play their giddy, hooky rock ’n’ roll, but if there’s one thing they want to make clear, it’s that they are not joking.
“We’re not lying about anything in our songs,” says guitarist and singer Casey Hughes. “Everything in our songs is about the shit we see and the things we do. I don’t think we’re soft at all. We’re not a bunch of wimps. I think bands pull a lot of punches and are afraid to be controversial, but we’re not. We talk a lot about drugs and sex in our songs, and that’s because that’s what we encounter when we go out. I hate for my mom to read this, but we’re not making this stuff up.”
Like most bands, Platinum Boys long to get to the point where they can quit their jobs and make a living from music alone. But where many musicians speak of that goal as if music is a get-rich-quick scheme, as if they’re one break away from making all their dreams come true, Platinum Boys take a decidedly more grounded approach. They think in terms of work and common sense. They know there’s a market for what they do, especially around the Midwest, where dirty, poppy rock always flies.
“You take a band on Burger Records and they can tour around the world and make money and operate without day jobs, and I think that’s a realistic possibility for us, too,” Hughes says. In some keys ways, he explains, Platinum Boys have a leg up over many bands. Drummer Aaron Skufca and bassist Joe Peterson (aka Joey Turbo of Rio Turbo and Catacombz) are both longtime promoters with connections around the Midwest and East Coast, which makes touring a lot easier.
And so far their music is reaching the right ears. The D.C. punk and garage label Windian Records reached out to the band to release their first single, “Candy,” while Future Hits was released this month by two labels: Milwaukee’s esteemed Dusty Medical, which handled the vinyl release, and Minneapolis’ Forged Artifacts, which pressed the cassettes.
“That’s three labels that were interested in us, so we felt good about that,” Hughes says. “Now our plan is to record this summer, since we already have new songs that we’re working on. Really, we want to put as much music out as we can. I see too many good bands just sort of fall off the radar because they don’t release enough music.”
Platinum Boys play with The Fog on Sunday, March 22 at Circle A at 8 p.m.
