Every week, the Milwaukee Music Premiere connects the city’s artists with our listening audience. If you’re an artist with a track you’d like us to debut exclusively on Radio Milwaukee, head over to our Music Submission page to learn how.
When we’re preparing to help a Milwaukee artist premiere their song, they always send along any and all information that might help us understand it better. For “Tangerines,” Alley Eyes included this enticing note: “the most anthemic of all the songs we’ve released to date.”
As a longtime appreciator of grandiose rock music (The Killers, Manchester Orchestra, Fall Out Boy in my younger days), it was a grabby line. It was also not hyperbole, as you’ll hear as soon as you tap that “Listen” button above.
The purveyors of — as they put it — “MKE indie sleaze” dress themselves up in something a little brighter and shinier on a track that has optimism at its heart. Inspired by the early stages of falling in love, “Tangerines” captures that let’s-throw-a-parade feeling you get right after meeting the greatest person in the history of planet Earth.
In fact, 20-ish seconds into the song, Alley Eyes introduce a marching cadence that snaps you to attention before launching into a riff-heavy reveal that would have Billie Joe Armstrong wiping away a single tear with pride. It’s loud and joyful and … well, anthemic.
Then there are the little twists and turns the band brings to the track. A tossed-in “Duh” and “What” at the end of the verses. A quick dip into a minor key on the chorus. Timely decisions to dial down the bombast so Colton Schroetter’s vocals get a deserved moment in the sun. They all work together to keep your ears interested while the lyrics unspool a potentially self-destructive situation:
I’m gonna burn down my home with you
Run halfway ‘cross the world, tell no one where we’re going to
And if they find us someday
Well then we’ll just run away
Again
(Duh)
When Alley Eyes premiered the Strokes-ish “Killing Time” back in May, it was an eyebrow-raiser for me. With “Tangerines,” the band has returned with an eye-opener.
You can hear the track anytime using the player at the top of the page or catch it on 88Nine throughout today (7:30 and 11:30 a.m.; 3:30, 7:30 and 10:30 p.m.). It gets its official release Feb. 13 and serves as the lead single off Alley Eyes’ forthcoming EP set to drop later this year. More immediately, they’ll no doubt bring it to The Cooperage stage Feb. 15 as part of a bill that includes Gold Steps, Colfax Speed Queen and MARiMARi.
