They may not be from Milwaukee but thankfully we can jump on the claim that Madison based Pale Young Gentlemen are native Wisconsinites. Combining a style of storytelling, pop, folk and classical, Pale Young Gentlemen redefine musical complexity.

Recently returning from their first national tour with fellow Madisonites Sleeping in the Aviary, Pale Young Gentlemen played at The Mad Planet in early October 2008. Continuing throughout the country, the band successfully captured a regional crowd and with the release of their second album, "Black Forest (tra la la)", solidifed their original sound.

Boasting an entire string section of violin, viola and cello, at first glance Pale Young Gentlemen assumibly are classically mellow. However, once past the initial bravado, Pale Young Gentlemen reveal a take on symphonic sound at times delightfully soft and stocked with emotion and yet eerily rhythmic with a medieval march of urgency.

"Our newer album is quieter and more detailed but we really push in live shows to make it more exciting. It marries better with our first album is which a lot more raucus and poppy," guitarist and vocalist Mike Reisnauer explains.

"Black Forest (tra la la)" plays as a collection; smooth from beginning to end with marked starts and stops but beautifully melding danceable pop and poignant ballads.

"We had a vision from the beginning for this album. I wanted to capture something almost folk fairytale in a sense and it's not necessarily an overall direction we're headed but all the songs were written in a certain time span and were meant to be played together," Reisnauer explains.

Evoking qualities of a soundtrack, "Black Forest (tra la la)" playfully touches literary depth with indie film undertones.

Reisnauer's voice channels delicately professed lyrics with vocal tone that disregards the set melodic line. To say the least, it is an intricately complex sound.

Pale Young Gentlemen is indicative of a new generation of musicians capable of bringing instrumentation back to pop culture, capable of enticing listeners with more than snappy hooks or indie raw emotion; a genre of balanced musicians if you will who step outside even the "underground" box.

Pale Young Gentlemen released their first self-titled album in 2006.

"The big difference between our first and second albums is that our first album was never really intentional. It's a compilation of songs we had played at shows around Madison for so long but there wasn't really a unifying vision," Reisnauer explains.

In the two years since their first release, a few members of Pale Young Gentlemen have changed but their sound has only matured. Original members and brothers Michael and Matt Reisnauer as well as friend Brett Randall are joined by cellist Liz Weamer, violist Own Miller, violinist Derek Powell and vocalist Beth Morgan.

"We never necessarily intended to create the band we are today. I originally responded to an add for a celloist and we added a more strings. And then there were friends of friends and more people others knew and it just kind changed and evolved from there," Reisnauer says.

Identifying with artists from Paul McCartney to Randy Newman to Johannes Brahm, Pale Young Gentlemen leave no genre unturned and no artist unimaginable. "Black Forest (tra la la)" perpetuates Eastern European tradition of storytelling and finger plucking perhaps revealing a maturity and solidification of the band's intent.

Moving from poppy dance music, their sound is now a complex mixture of percussion and guitar. Both albums were recorded at Smart Studios in Madison, WI but "Black Forest (tra la la)" is the first to be produced under Madison label Science of Sound.

Check out the band's website to catch a copy of either CD.