Anybodywho’s ever been invested in Milwaukee’s punk scene—or, really, any punkscene—knows that the average band doesn’t last long. Groups dissolve nearly asquickly as they spring up, with many fizzling out before they even begin asmembers move on to new projects, leaving behind a tangled genealogy of deadends. One Milwaukee group that met an abrupt end was Outside, a trio featuringpast and present members of Absolutely, Centipedes and Cougar Den. Theyrecorded a short album’s worth of songs in 2013 with producer Dante Fumo thennever did anything with them. And now, just for the hell of it, they’vereleased them on Bandcamp.
Fuzzy and ragged, with fewer traces of the mathynotes than you’d expect given the group’s pedigree, they’re the work of a bandthat didn’t stuck around long enough to narrow down their voice, though theeight-minute closer “North is Not Up” suggests they could’ve gone on to becomeone of the city’s more unorthodox stoner-rock bands if they’d decided to pursuethat route.
You can stream the album below, and keep an eye out for a Youth Crush, a newband featuring two members of Outside, Kelsey Kaufmann and George Anachev.