Biography
PERSONNEL
Jeb – electric and acoustic guitars, organ, voices, imaginary jew’s harp, distorted imaginary jew’s harp
Frank – bass/fuzz, pedals and knobs, electric and acoustic guitars, backing vocals, summoner of ghosts, lead beard
Nathan - electric guitars, agonizing painbombs, heavenly screeches, lady pants
Scott – drums, percussion, electric guitars, organ, backing vocals, infinite holy holy holy, noise table
PRESS
[Dear Astronaut's] chords are all oil-thick, a murk of endless depth, but they sound as though they were recorded through something thin, high and lonesome, like a box of rain.
Here [they've] gone mad on mountaintops and come back down to tell us of what [they] saw. And worse, what [they] did not see at all. The whole affair like Black Sabbath walled off in the wood, reading William Blake from the hills of dying meadows, their brains hissing from drugs and scenery.
Dear Astronaut shows have been a nearly weekly occurrence lately at Walker Point all-ages venue The Borg Ward, due in part to the Milwaukee trio having its practice space there. The band’s creepy, creaky psych-folk isn’t really suited for kids, though. Its full-length, which it’s recording this month, may end up being the perfect soundtrack to your next nervous breakdown.
Though they proudly consider the Borg Ward their home, the members of Milwaukee’s Dear Astronaut have made quite the name for themselves on the rest of the local all-ages circuit, thanks in part to their anthemic and doomful guitar work, which is nicely offset by softly repeated melodies and the band’s sporadic, blasé vocals. The Dark Forest, the group’s 2007 EP, showcased a more cut-and-dry fuzz sound, a bit of a departure from their “psych-folk” roots. Hot on the heels of their last EP, the band has already begun to arrange their next 7-inch [...] due out this winter.
Dear Astronaut play the sort of tender, heavy strumming and eerie acoustic songs that often explode into a mire of tunelessly tuneful self-hatred and made Eric Gaffney’s side of Sebadoh in the late 80s so great.