The Great Duck War has made it their goal to spread gritty garage rock on the sidewalks of Pinckney Street and through the halls of Memorial Union. The lo-fi garage rock band is composed of University of Wisconsin sophomores Reid Kurkerewicz and Noah Huber, and Madison Memorial High School senior Justin Huber. Although the band is still in its infancy, they have several ideas to move their musical endeavor forward.
Meeting at The Studio, a Sellery Hall floor designated for musicians and other artists to live in a community with one another, the band formed what was first known as Lachrymose Soup. Their biggest musical influences were The Pixies, Pavement, Modest Mouse, Jack White and Pile. After some collaborative music production, the band played house shows around campus.
“We love playing shows in basements. That’s our scene,” Huber said.
However that was last year, and now after a name change to The Great Duck War, they are looking on to bigger and better things. The band either practices at their home downtown or a suburban garage on the West Side. In settings like these their garage rock sound comes to fruition.
They are further building on this sound by employing more dynamic structures into their songs. Their goal is to stimulate a variety of emotions through their music.
“We chose this style of music because of the sound’s high energy and danceable appeal,” Huber said.
This musical development will be demonstrated with a self-entitled EP expected to drop in February 2015. A single from this upcoming release, “Sweet Cassidy,” is a harbinger of their matured sound. The band said it’s their most poppy song and it’s always well received by audiences at their live shows on campus who dance and jive to its groovy progressions. Vocalist and guitarist Kurkerewicz wrote the song years before the band was formed, but the group tweaked it to bring out its best elements. It is now available on their SoundCloud page.
“The lyrics are reminiscent of adolescent feelings about girls and the whirlwind of emotions that surround that,” Kurkerewicz said.
Another single “Lunchbox Lunchbox Lunchbox” starts with an energetic entrance accompanied by ambitious and dynamic changes in tempo and intensity. The most alluring element of this song is its ability to build up musical tension and release it into a beautiful nova of sounds.
At their most recent shows, they’ve been showcasing their newer sound performing “Sweet Cassidy” and their coming EP. The Great Duck War has performed at the Bubble Musical Festival, which showcases emerging bands from the Madison area. However, their favorite performances have been at the Rathskeller in Memorial Union. This venue is particularly valuable because admission is free, the acoustics are great and the atmosphere is conducive to jamming, The Great Duck War said.
The band is not only moving toward a more developed sound and gigs, but also collaborating with other artists on the local scene, including Dolores and Symptoms. They’ve also been pitching collaboration with psych-folk act The Pervert Princess. The band’s sound is appealing because they don’t have to forfeit a more compelling sound just to have a good time.
“We want to make people dance and cry at the same time,” Huber said.
Whether they are playing at the Rathskeller or in the many basements on campus, The Great Duck War is a garage rock band that carefully borrows from other elements as part of a new wave in Madison’s music scene.
