Tonight, Milwaukee’s own Goodnight Loving celebrate the release of The Goodnight Loving Supper Club at Linneman’s in Milwaukee during Radio Summer Camp. The band provided us with 5 albums they’ve been enjoying to coincide with the release of their own.

Buck Owens – I’ve Got a Tiger By the Tail
Buck Owens always goes down real smooth. Great guitar playing and probably one of the last high profile flat-top haircuts in music.

The Beach Boys – Smile
I have no idea what “version” of the album I heard, although I know it was culled from the original recordings. I actually heard this on FM radio on the way from a show to the house where we were staying. It was late at night and we had burned through all of our CD’s already and I heard the repeating piano lick from “Heros and Villains” that runs throughout the album. Its really sad that this record never was never properly finished, but I think its successful in the fact that it has become an interactive record, where people can make their own track listing and song selection. It forces the listener to be creative and fill in some of the blanks.

Catholic Boys – “Psychic Voodoo Mind Control”
This is a Milwaukee band from a couple years ago. In my limited time on earth this is the best punk band I ever saw and they produced my favorite local punk record. For the longest time I only had a cassette copy and it stayed in my mini van’s stereo for a whole summer. Really interesting guitar interplay and drumming that makes you feel like Max Headroom put something in your drink. I really don’t think anybody has ever topped this. I wish Devo would offer these guys an opening slot on tour. Maybe they would get back together.

Staple Singers – “Soul Folk in Action”
I love that they coined their own style of music. Most of the songs on this record have some sort of radical bend to them, hence the folk aspect. There is great tremelo guitar all over this record. It seems like guitar in soul songs is often pretty secondary, but it is a main component for the Staple Singers. They do the best version of “Sitting at the Dock of the Bay,” and “Slow Train” should be the new national anthem.

Reigning Sound – “Love and Curses”
This is the latest Reigning Sound album. This one took a long time to sink in for some reason. Anything Greg Cartwright does just grabs you by the collar immediately, but this one is a real slow burner, but once the songs get their claws into you, they just don’t let up and it becomes their best album. This band is fantastic and Greg is the most consistently great song writer around. The record just sounds to me like wheels on a highway at night, its so permanently fused in my mind with the feeling of traveling.

MP3: Goodnight Loving – “The Pan”