10 top new Milwaukee albums and songs to check out in July 2025, from J.P. and more

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Some long-acclaimed Milwaukee rockers show they've still got the goods with their new releases, while one of Milwaukee's biggest hip-hop breakouts boldly goes in a new direction.
Those are among the 10 best new albums and songs to check out in July from local artists, listed in alphabetical order.
The alien-like electronic notes at the start of opening track "Letters" suggests Collections of Colonies of Bees might be retreating to their more experimental earlier works. In reality, it's the sound of the band winding up to what quickly becomes its boldest and brightest album to date. Quirky elements including unpredictable drum shifts and the dichotomy of dual vocalists ensure the band's art-rock lineage is intact, but cinematic rock vistas constitute much of "Celebrities," including some dancier rhythms, even some catchy hand claps, on toe-tapping stunners like "A Tricky Sin."
Jorge Vallentine hasn't been shy about citing the late Elliott Smith as a reference point for his own songs, and that's clear in the prettiness of his voice, and somberness of his words, on his new EP's three tracks. But he's not strictly following in Smith's wake, evident in his electric guitar touches. There's also another Smith, Robert Smith (specifically the Cure's "Lovesong"), who emerges as a possible influence on some of the melodies floating through EP opener "Swimming in the Sun."
It's possible no Milwaukee rocker's voice is as sweeping and soaring as Mark Waldoch's — hear him live, and you frequently have to pick up your jaw from the floor. Pipes like those bring a whole lot of power to songs like heart-bursting slow-builder "Manageable Oblivion," brought over from his newest band The Hallelujah Ward's 2024 EP on their debut album. But what's most striking about "Everybody Swoons" is how subtle Waldoch's intense vocal instrument can be, scaling back the volume to let his words and tenderness have more of the spotlight, and allowing these eight songs to draw their strength from other elements — especially Waldoch's own dreamy guitar and The Promise Ring veteran Dan Didier's punchy drum work.
If the Milwaukee bluegrass band is experiencing "growing pains," there's no way of telling — aside from the fact that it's taken seven years for the band to release a new full-length album. Not that they haven't been plenty busy or lost their creative juices — as various releases in the 2020s, including a couple of live albums, and covers of Grateful Dead and Smashing Pumpkins songs, attests. But it's no shock that the immensely talented quintet attracted a bona fide bluegrass legend to "Growing Pains" track "Fiddle and Song": Allison Krauss' dobro player Jerry Douglas. Also not surprising: Each band member's musicianship on the album is as vibrant as the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Famer's.
Obscure Birds sure has a funny way of promoting itself, proclaiming on its website: "Despite being together since 2016 and playing couples (sic) of shows each year, Obscure Birds has, through capricious planning, maintained its obscurity." The plan may be foiled by its long-in-the-works debut full-length album "Hatch," which draws on some not-so-obscure reference points — the Beatles, Pink Floyd, Elton John, the Black Crowes and Psychedelic Furs are among the disparate acts that come to mind at times — to create a sprawling, ambitious nine-song collection.
"Look alive," Kyle Scheuer screams at the start of "Eyes Meet at the Liquor Store," the shape-shifting epic second track off "Joy Coughs." The only way you won't experience a quickening pulse listening to this often unhinged and always unpredictable album was if you don't have one.
J.P. became the poster child for Milwaukee's playful, party-ready lowend sound when last year's "Bad Bitty" became the most popular track from a Milwaukee-based rapper since Coo Coo Cal's "My Projects" in 2021, amassing 29.6 million streams (and counting) on Spotify alone. But the album that song appeared on, "Coming Out Party," showed that J.P. was too talented to be contained in one box. And new single "My Peace" proves it, with J.P. trading raps for beautiful, buttery R&B vocals, and replacing the good-time goofiness of "Bad Bitty" for some deeply moving introspection. It is a huge risk to do something so different from the breakout hit, but it also confirms that J.P. has the potential to be a really fascinating and accomplished artist.
With broad pop strokes that make it instantly infectious, and elements of pop-punk that may recall the good old days of Warped Tour, Brett J.B. on his latest singles addresses a crisis of faith with vivid details and poignancy, and in the process makes one of the catchiest songs about nihilism you might ever hear.
Motel Breakfast is changing the menu a bit on its new standalone single, letting bass groves and synth swells take the spotlight, and embracing elements of The Cure, for what slowly builds to become one of its most satisfying and catchiest songs yet. Hopefully, they won't keep people waiting for a new album for too long.
Milwaukee-born, now Madison-based Hunt has long proved his mastery of smart, heartfelt power pop, be it leading Midnight Reruns or with his solo material. His latest, "Timeless World Forever," suggests his talents continue, but it also has Hunt pushing beyond his previous parameters — most pointedly on the fuzzed-out "Cave Art," which recalls Beck's everything but the kitchen-sink experimentation with just a sprinkle of Nine Inch Nails '90s-era synths. And also, there's cowbell.
"Must-Hear Milwaukee Music" runs on or around the first of every month in the Journal Sentinel and at jsonline.com. If you have a new album, EP or song coming out, contact Piet Levy at [e-mail] for review consideration. Follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/PietLevyMJS.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 10 top new Milwaukee albums and songs to check out in July 2025