The Hussy is known as much for their blistering rock as they are for their short sets. It’s a smart move; they knock you out and leave you wanting more. Seems they have the same approach to releasing their music. They have yet to release a full length CD, preferring instead to offer a series of 7” singles split with other local bands. The first of these was with the terrific Sleeping in the Aviary, while tonight’s show celebrated their collaborative effort with the excellently named Milwaukee band the Zygoteens. (In between was the even more unlikely split cassette release with Nashville band Bad Cop.) I had prohibited myself from going out until I finished my CD review that was due the next day, so I missed half of the Zygoteens’ set in addition to Screaming Cyn Cyn’s opening set. What I did hear was some catchy stuff, and I wish I’d heard more.
The last time I’d seen the Hussy at the Frequency they were the sole highlight between disastrous sets from usually dependable bands. It seemed they were destined to fill that role again tonight. The Midwest Beat is a really good band. Their excellent 2009 release At the Gates might have made my best of list had I bought it before the third week of December. Punchy, 60’s style rock with loud guitars and sweet vocals, it’s nothing that hasn’t been done before, but there’s a lot to like. They tried, but they couldn’t quite get it together tonight, and they knew it. Guitarist/vocalists Matt Joyce and Kyle (who replaced original member Ryan Adams) tuned frequently but still never sounded quite right. “I used to love the Mustang,” Joyce laughed, referring to his Fender guitar, “but I’m having a hard time taming her tonight.” At the end of their set, he promised that the Hussy was going to rock our asses because they had just been f’ing up. I declared their set “mostly awful” afterward, though it was an endearing kind of awful.
As predicted, the Hussy saved the night (again). And as usual, they did it in twenty minutes or less. Much of the magic here comes from behind the drum kit. Heather Sawyer bends low over her drums, beating the hell out of her kit, looking much like Dick the Bruiser’s Tony Sellers, screaming vocals in a tug-o-war with guitarist Bobby Wegner. It’s a visceral, garage-y wall of sound; you’d never guess it’s coming from just two people. The song that always gets my attention is the one with the line “Let’s go out and drink tonight,” and it’s destined to become my new theme song. And if it is also the same one that ends “cha cha cha” (the way all songs should end) then I am not sure why I don’t see them every time they play. Perhaps I can only see them when I really need them. Which is kinda cool too.
The Midwest Beat
The Hussy
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