Here in the midwestern tundra, January can be a sleepy time for shows by touring bands, but no matter where or when Madison garage punks the Hussy play a gig, they heat things up—or even set them on fire. And that’s not just cliche rock ’n’ roll hyperbole; in this case, you can take those words literally. In an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal last January, guitarist-vocalist Bobby Wegner (who also runs DIY label No Coast) estimated that since he and drummer-vocalist Heather Sawyer joined forces in the summer of 2008, he’s set his instrument ablaze about 100 times. You might call him “a firestarter, a twisted firestarter,” but his vibe has little to do with the violence and nihilism that people hear in that Prodigy song—Wegner, who usually goes by Bobby Hussy, is plenty twisted, but it comes out in waves of ecstatic feedback and grimy, fuzzed-out guitar, which he uses to fan the flames of feel-good punk-rock chaos. And the Hussy is just as prolific on record as Wegner is with lighter fluid and a match: so far the group (which became a trio in 2015 with the addition of guitarist Tyler Fassnacht) has released at least 17 seven-inches, ten-inches, splits, and tapes in addition to four full-length albums—and they recently announced a fifth full-length coming in 2019. With any luck, the Hussy will play some of that new material, but either way they’ll make it worth your while to leave home on a cold winter night. v
Madison garage punks the Hussy can heat up the coldest winter nights
