Luckily, the singer is named Toby Marriott (yes, he’s son of the late Steve), so I’m willing to dig deeper. Behind the look and the stance, The Strays are a darn good rock and roll band. But the former almost certainly will prevent lots of people from learning the latter. Although it should be noted that I thought the same of the first Manic Street Preachers record, to the dismay of some trusted friends.
The band’s incendiary disc “Le Futur Noir” is out now on TVT Records and the trio – plus drummer du jour – arrives at the Miramar Theater, 2844 N. Oakland Ave., on Sept. 26 with Veruca Salt, Agent Sparks and The Response. Show starts at 6 p.m.
Only two songs on the record crack the three-minute mark (which is awesome, if you ask me) and all 13 are high-energy rock and roll with crunchy guitars and growling vocals. While The Strays are perhaps more Eddie & the Hot Rods than The Clash, what they lack in originality is more than made up in spirit and the kind of music that will keep the crowd moving.
Agent Sparks, which builds its “Red Rover” (Immortal Records) disc around the unison male/female vocals of Benjamin Einziger and Stephanie Eitel, also comes from the same punk tradition, but the music is less explosive, more simmering and less bombast allows the band’s songwriting to shine through and feels more like the great post-punk bands that emerged as the ‘70s ended and the ‘80s dawned.
The Miramar show dishes up not only four bands for the price of admission ($12, $14 on the day of the show), but also a night of diverse music.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
