Milwaukee likes its beer cold and its rock 'n' roll loud. So, it's a good thing we have The Mistreaters, who provide the latter half of that equation.
This in-your-face home-grown foursome has been performing all over the country for the past five years and this Saturday, stages a record release party for its second full-length album, "Playa Hated to the Fullest," released Tuesday on Estrus Records.
"We recorded that with Jim 'Too cool for school' Diamond in Detroit," says drummer Christian Mistreater. "He really knows what he's doing. It took two weekends to record and mix everything."
The party will be held at the Cactus Club, 2496 S. Wentworth Ave., and all-ages festivities, including performances by Since By Man and Temper Temper, begin at 5 p.m. At 10 p.m. the party becomes a 21 and over shindig and includes performances by The Rusty P's and The Horn Band.
The Mistreaters' style of hard-edged, blow-your-mind rock'n roll, is made by four men: Christreater on vocals, Dusty Mistreater on guitar, Christian Mistreater n drums and David John Henry Mistreater on bass. All are Milwaukee natives except for Madison-born Christian.
The new is disc is the band's first full-length album for Estrus, which to some, is a big deal. Estrus is known for their work with artists like Mooney Suzuki and The Soledad Brothers.
"It (Estrus Records) certainly helps distributing our record around. It's a very well known record label that puts out some good stuff," says Christian.
The Mistreaters were formed in 1998 and played their first show that New Years Eve. Since then, they have contributed to several compilations, four 7" records and a full-length album called "Grab Them Cakes" released by Big Neck Records. With all the output, one wonders where they get their inspiration.
"I guess we drink some beer and get inspired by whatever were listening to at the time," says Christian. "Just working off an idea in our head usually does the trick."
Some influences include "old blues, funk, soul, rock, and Justin Timberlake," he adds.
On top of all the time spent in the studio, The Mistreaters have also done their share of touring, making appearances in states like Texas, Arizona, New York and Ohio. They also accompanied the then-unknown White Stripes, on a tour of the Midwest.
While the band enjoys touring more than recording, life on the road has its downside.
{INSERT_RELATED}"The road is hard," says Christian. "Our van stinks. We go through a lot of air fresheners. It's hard to shower in every city. Crashing on people's floors. Eating their food when they go to bed. Driving seven hours extremely hung over. Arguing with the band over nothing. It's good times."
So what's the appeal?
"Seeing cities we haven't seen and rocking the kids, and taking their lunch money. Recording just makes me sick of our own songs," Christian says.
Despite all the time spent on the road, The Mistreaters keep their roots here in Milwaukee. The temptation of finding fame in a larger city has yet to take hold over the group and they still maintain their love for the Brew Town.
"I like the fact that new great bands keep popping up around town (Milwaukee)," Christian says. "It's all different types of music too, not just rock and roll. I won't get into names though. I might leave someone out and then they will be looking for blood."
Soon after the release party, the band will hit the road again for cities on the East Coast, from Canada down to North Carolina. They also have a tour beginning in mid -July that will take them as far east as Florida, all the way to Texas.
For more information on The Mistreaters go to www.themistreaters.com.
