The Dead Milkmen - "Philadelphia Femdom"

Since The Dead Milkmen reunited in 2008, their latest single feels like the most classic Dead Milkmen song they've released. "Philadelphia Femdom" is a punk song with a sense of humor. If anything, the song celebrates the dominatrix lifestyle, and mentions that most of the people that seem to decry sex work are the ones who tend to seek out the services. Calling out the hypocrisy of politicians, religious leaders, etc. is a classic Dead Milkmen subject, and "Philadelphia Femdom" fits that perfectly. My favorite classic Dead Milkmen songs are the type that seem silly and fun while being biting social commentary, and this fits in perfectly.

You can watch the video for "Philadelphia Femdom" below. Quaker City Quiet Pills is due out June 9 on The Giving Groove, and is available for pre-order here. For more on The Dead Milkmen, check out their website.

The Dead Milkmen - "Grandpa's Not a Racist (He Just Voted for One)"

I've been a die hard Dead Milkmen fan for about thirty years now, and I'm thrilled any time we can bring you new music from the Philly punks. They have a new single out, and their first new album since 2017's Welcome to the End of the World. "Grandpa's Not a Racist (He Just Voted for One)" is the closest they've come to sounding like their 80's and 90's selves since they reunited. This new song sounds like it could have been an unreleased song from Beelzebubba or Eat Your Paisley. Subject matter wise, "Grandpa's Not a Racist (He Just Voted for One)" fits their old school songs, too. It's a biting commentary that blatantly mocks right wing fears and voting habits without being jokey. It's fntastic that a band can be forty years into existence and thirteen years into a reunion and still be this vital.

You can listen to "Grandpa's Not a Racist (He Just Voted for One)" below. Quaker City Quiet Pills is due out June 9 on The Giving Groove and can be pre-ordered here. For more on The Dead Milkmen, check out the band's website.

The Dead Milkmen Cover Heaven 17

It's been far too long since we've heard from The Dead Milkmen, but luckily they're back with an unfortunately timely cover of Heaven 17's 1981 Margaret Thatcher/Ronald Reagan era song "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang." This is another song I was completely unfamiliar with, but I'll obviously listen to anything The Dead Milkmen put out. It's an impossibly groovy cover, bordering on ska and it's the most danceable song they've put out since reuniting. Despite being a song about fascists that drips with justifiable anger, it's somehow a complete blast of a song.

You can listen to The Dead Milkmen take on "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" below. The song is available digitally and as a 7" via The Giving Groove. The first pressing sold out a while back, but you can get a copy of the second pressing here. For more on The Dead Milkmen, check out their website.

The Dead Milkmen - "King of Sick"

Photo via Facebook

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the very first time I ever saw The Dead Milkmen, so it's quite fitting that I can bring you new music from them today! "King of Sick" is more synth-heavy than you'd expect, but has all of the attitude of a standard Dead Milkmen song. Of course, any song with the word sick in its title that also mentions germs is going to certainly seem COVID-19 inspired these days. But for those of us that have been craving new music from the Dead Milkmen, "King of Sick" definitely helps tide us over. The current world climate needs more music like this.

You can listen to "King of Sick" below. The song is available on 19 NOTES ON A BROKEN SYSTEM, a benefit compilation featuring all Philadelphia bands and benefiting Amistad Law Project and Philadelphia Community Bail Fund. It also features The Ramoms doing "Gritty is a Punk," which you truly must hear. You can get a copy here. For more on The Dead Milkmen, check out their website.

7th Victim - "Missing Girls In Gothic Garb"

Photo via Facebook

7th Victim is the project that allows Rodney Anonymous to explore his love of electronic music much more than The Dead Milkmen ever could. Plus, they have the greatest Bandcamp bio of all time: 

"When you think of Philadelphia-based electronic acts, only one name comes to mind.
That name is Void Vision.
But sometimes they're not available. For those times, there's 7th Victim.
Formed in Stocksbridge, UK in 1976, 7th Victim has played shows with Joy Division, The Clash, The KLF, and Depache Mode.. Except for when they haven't. Which they didn't. Why are you still reading this?"

As you can tell from that bio and the name of their latest single, "Missing Girls In Gothic Garb," 7th Victim are surprisingly fun. Their latest single is very 80's style electronic. It's minimal and I hesitate to call it New Wave and compare it to early Depeche Mode (for obvious reasons), but...

You can listen to "Missing Girls In Gothic Garb" below. The song is available for free on 7th Victim's Bandcamp. For more on 7th Victim, check them out on Facebook.

Friday Freebie: 7th Victim - The Tombstone Jacket EP

For casual fans of The Dead Milkmen, this new EP from Rodney Anonymous's other band, 7th Victim, might come as a surprise. If you've been following their recent output, 7th Victim makes perfect sense. This new project lets Rodney indulge his love of electronic/synth music. On The Tombstone Jacket EP, which consists of four rough mixes of songs that will be on their debut album, Rodney provides "electronic tomfoolery" behind Janet Bressler's vocals. As for what the music sounds like, it's not like the mainstream industrial I'm familiar with (sorry!), and if I'm going to compare it to anything it would be John Carpenter's film scores. Rodney does assume vocals for one song, "Kleptoid," which is about how the band formed in Stockbridge, UK in 1976 opening for Ted Nugent. So there are some similarities to The Dead Milkmen.

You can listen to "Her Name is Witch" below. Giallo, the debut album from 7th Victim, will be out in the future. You can download The Tombstone Jacket EP for free via Bandcamp. If you choose free for the "name your price" option, at least make sure to follow 7th Victim on Facebook.

If It's Too Loud... Halloween 2017 Playlist

Halloween is my favorite time of the year. It's the only time of the year when visiting old cemeteries isn't "weird." It's "festive." That also means it's time for our annual Halloween playlist. Every year we try to avoid the usual "Monster Mash" and "Thriller," and instead bring you a playlist reflective of the kind of music we listen to all year round. We have classic alternative (Beat Happening, Dinosaur Jr, Tori Amos), neo-folk/country (Jason Isbell, David Wax Museum, Marlon Williams), classic rock (Bob Dylan, The Jam), some hip hop (Ghostface Killah, Swet Shop Boys), old school punk (The Cramps, Dead Milkmen, Ramones), and even some metal with Dead Cross. At just over two hours, it's perfect for Halloween parties, to put on during trick or treating, or to play during work to drown out your co-workers playing "Wereworlf of London." Happy Halloween!

The Dead Milkmen - Welcome to the End of the World

My gushing fandom of The Dead Milkmen has been well documented here at If It's Too Loud..., so I'm obviously thrilled that this week saw the release of a new EP, Welcome to the End of the World. One of the biggest changes with The Dead Milkmen since their return has been their move away from "joke" songs. Hits like "Punk Rock Girl" and "Instant Club Hit (You'll Dance to Anything)" always had them unfairly labelled as a novelty band by some. Their newer material, while still including a biting sense of humor and social satire, could never be called novelty music.

Which leads the newer material to be more traditionally punk than the classic material. While most bands, especially punk bands, tend to get slower, quieter, and more melodic as they age, The Dead Milkmen are getting louder. One of my favorite style of songs that The Dead Milkmen have always done are gleeful songs about horrible things. The EP's title track, "Welcome to the End of the World," is a driving mid-tempo angry but somehow joyous song called "Welcome to the End of the World." It's not all heavy songs on the EP. "The Coast is Not Clear" has a bit of a disjointed New Order feel to it. "Tomorrow Should Have Been Here Years Ago" is almost a drum and bass song, if drum and bass was done by aging indie punk bands from the 80's and 90's. And it wouldn't be a Dead Milkmen release without a freaky surf rock track, which we get in "Battery Powered Rat."

Welcome to the End of the World is out now via The Giving Groove. You can get your copy on vinyl or a digital version here. For more on The Dead Milkmen, check out their website.

The Dead Milkmen - "Only the Dead Get Off at Kymlinge"

Photo via Facebook

My long term love of The Dead Milkmen has been well documented here, so I'm thrilled that we can say that there's a new Dead Milkmen song! Not very long ago, the thought of new music from these guys was limited to merely wishing for some unheard tracks being unearthed, but here we are two albums and multiple singles into new Dead Milkmen music this century.

The Dead Milkmen have a new EP coming out this fall, and we can now hear the first song from it. "Only the Dead Get Off at Kymlinge" fits right into the reunited band's sound. It's a little more rocking than their 80's and 90's output, and the band is losing the novelty tag that was wrongly placed on them for too long. The song is about an urban legend about a Swedish ghost train station, so this hits so many of my buttons. It's a driving, fun song about a ghost train. If that doesn't appeal to you, then you're just wrong.

You can listen to "Only the Dead Get Off at Kymlinge" below. The Dead Milkmen's new EP, Welcome to the End of the World, will be out in the fall on The Giving Groove. 50% of all profits after taxes will be donated to Girls Rock Philly. You can pre-order a copy here. For more on The Dead Milkmen, check out their website.

Rodney Anonymous (The Dead Milkmen) - "Billy Wants a Voodoo Doll" and "Her Name is Witch"

Photo via Facebook

As a Halloween treat to us all, Rodney Anonymous of The Dead Milkmen is slowly rolling out "The Halloween Demos." I think I'll do the lazy journalist thing here and use Rodney's own words to explain them:

I’ve probably written fifteen or sixteen songs this year. Of those, I’ve submitted at least a dozen to the Milkmen as demos. Out of those five or six will probably land on the next Milkmen album if I’m lucky.  That’s the way songwriting works in our band: everybody writes and  submits songs (or parts of songs) and we keep a few and the rest are never heard form again. It’s pretty much the same process the Duggars use to decide which of their children they’ll allow to live.

Normally, I don’t share my demos with people outside of the band. This is because the songs always tend to sound better after the other guys contribute to them. Or, in the case of the songs that get scrapped, I relieved that I was sparred the embarrassment.

That said, of all the songs I’ve submitted in the last few months, five were of a particular spooky nature. These I’ve christened “The Halloween Demos”.

The two songs he's released so far are "Her Name is Witch" (about former witches being reprogrammed as witches) "Billy Wants a Voodoo Doll" which is inspired by another song, "Billy Wants a Doll," from a 1970 Marlo Thomas special. Both songs are really stripped down and bare bones. But, for a lifelong Dead Milkmen fan, they're a great look into the band's songwriting process. Plus, they're Halloween themed, so yay!

You can listen to "Billy Wants a Voodoo Doll" and "Her Name is Witch," along with other upcoming releases from "The Halloween Demos," on Rodney Anonymous' website. For The Dead Milkmen, check out their website.

The Dead Milkmen - "Song With No Name"

One of my favorite things about this digital age that's supposedly killing music is when one of my favorite bands throws a song up out of nowhere. Yesterday, The Dead Milkmen put out "Song With No Name." According to a Facebook post, "Song With No Name" was recorded back in 1992 during the sessions for what became Not Richard But Dick. It's a demo, but a pretty good recording for a demo. Sung by Joe Jack Talcum, it fits right into the poppier sound The Milkmen were experimenting with during their time on Hollywood Records.

You can listen to "Song With No Name" below. To keep track of The Dead Milkmen's actics, be sure to like them on Facebook.

Live Shows: The Dead Milkmen and Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys, The Sinclair, Cambridge, MA 10/17/15

Anyone who's been reading this blog with any regularity knows that I'm pretty much obsessed with both The Dead Milkmen and Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys. As soon as tickets went on sale for The Dead Milkmen I knew I was going. Once they added the Army of Broken toys, that was a huge bonus.

This was the third time The Dead Milkmen have swung through Boston since they first reunited in 2008, so I was curious to see how they'd do. The first two times are usually glossed over with the pure excitement of seeing a band you didn't think you would ever have the chance to see. Once a band is on their third pass and second reunion album, they're just back. Of course, the Milkmen were still spectacular for this show, playing with more energy and passion than any other reunited band I've seen in years. While they played a good chunk of their newer material, they delved far into their back catalog and pulled out some near forgotten classics. "Nutrition," "Methodist Coloring Book," "Dean's Dream," "Surfin' Cow," and holy shit! Is that "If I Had a Gun?!??!!?" While the rant before "Bitchin' Camaro" had been about violating the corpse of Archbishop Cardinal Law's mother and making "Dream On" the MA state song over "Roadrunner," this time was a kinder, gentler story about meeting The Damned while playing Riot Fest. What's truly great is how well their new material fits into their classics. I did miss the local cover tradition, though.

I was curious to see how The Dead Milkmen's audience would accept Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys. The Milkmen are a pretty barebones and straightforward alt-punk band, and the Broken Toys are much more theatrical and fantastical. While the crowd seemed confused at first, they got pulled right into the folk/punk/metal/burlesque/all around freakshow that is a Walter Sickert & The Army of Broken Toys show. They played "Bully Boys" from their Shockheaded Peter performance, and really sucked everyone into fandom with "28 Seeds," my favorite of theirs live. They closed with their covers of "Paint it Black" and "Ghostbusters," proving that a viola can be a punk as fuck instrument.

As always, head on over to www.deadmilkmen.com or www.armyoftoys.com for more info on either band. Video below is from YouTube user john doherty.

Rodney Anonymous of The Dead Milkmen Has a Halloween Playlist

Halloween is my absolutely favorite holiday of the year, and I'm always looking for songs besides "Monster Mash" to listen to. This year, Rodney Anonymous posted his Halloween playlist over at www.deadmilkmen.com, and I threw it all on a Spotify playlist for us all. It has some fairly obvious ones, like Social Distortion's "Mommy's Little Monster," but there are also some surprises. White Zombie's "I'm Your Boogie Man" seemed too obvious, while there are some fairly obscure picks like Dead When I Found Her's "No More Nightmares." It's perfect for parties and background music while handing out candy.

The Dead Milkmen have two upcoming shows: Tomorrow night at The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA and October 30 at the Trocadero Theatre in Philadelphia. For more information, head on over to their website.

The Dead Milkmen and F.O.D. Release a Split 7"

In case you need a break from streaming Ryan Adams' cover of Taylor Swift's 1989 today, there is a "lost" 7" from The Dead Milkmen and F.O.D. you can listen to. At first the bands claimed it was originally recorded in 1985 and unearthed in a label employee's parent's house, but they're now admitting the songs were recorded earlier this year in an attempt to sound like the bands did in 1985.

Now, I can't vouch for the F.O.D. songs. For some reason, I never actually made an effort to listen to them before, mostly because their reference in the Dead Milkmen classic "Nutrition" made me convinced they were a jock hardcore band. Even later on when I found out they were friends with the Milkmen and considered a good band, I just never actually checked them out. They always had this mythical element, and I was pretty sure they weren't actually real. Based on the songs on this 7", they're real and they're good. If you like your 80s hardcore thrashy, dirty, and out of control, this'll be for you.

The Dead Milkmen aped their 1985 sound perfectly for this. "If the Kids Could Git Togehter" is a perfect 80s Rodney rant. Right now, Brooklyn Vegan appears to have an exclusive on the stream, so head over there to hear it. You can order the 7" on the SRA Records website. It is set to ship on October 31. For more info on The Dead Milkmen, check out their website. For F.O.D., check them out on Facebook.

Dean Sabatino - Augmenta Memoria

Dean Sabatino (aka Dean Clean) of the Dead Milkmen recently released his 3rd collection of "ambient electronic minimalist music." It's not quite the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the Dead Milkmen, but all the members seem to play with other genres with side projects, so it makes sense. Dean's solo project is this eerie, creepy music that is so minimalistic that you'll almost forget it's on and it just blends in with whatever your surroundings are. It's not exactly music you supposed to listen to in the background at work, and it's probably not the best music to sooth you to sleep. According to his Bandcamp: " Listen in the car on a highway drive, or while walking in the woods. Try turning off all the lights and listening in a dark house at one in the morning. Put some nice headphones on and immerse yourself in these sounds." That sums it up pretty perfectly.

To check out Augmenta Memoria, head over to Dean Sabatino's Bandcamp. You should also check out The Dead Milkmen's website, since they recently announced somesummer and fall tour dates.

The Dead Milkmen - "Prisoner's Cinema"

This was a pleasant surprise this morning. I woke up to a Spotify notification for a brand new Dead Milkmen song! Weathervane Music has an online documentary series where they have musicians come in and record a song in 2 days. The Dead Milkmen are featured in the upcoming season, which means there's a new Dead Milkmen song. "Prisoner's Cinema" is probably the closest that they'll ever come to an adult contemporary song, complete with a chorus sung by what sounds like a female folk trio. Of course, knowing the Dead Milkmen, this just makes the song that much more political and dark. It's a call to arms for a fair wage and worker's rights, which is a pretty perfect topic for Rodney Anonymous.

You can hear "Prisoner's Cinema" below. To download a free copy, head over to Weathervane Music's Bandcamp. As always, for more info on The Dead Milkmen, go to www.deadmilkmen.com. 

Ken's Top 10 of 2014 - #2: The Dead Milkmen - Pretty Music For Pretty People

The 2nd album in a comeback/reunion isn't supposed to be good. Pretty Music For Pretty People is great. Maybe it's because the Dead Milkmen were never hard particularly hardcore band, but they haven't lost a step. While many of their peers have been releasing music about half as aggressive as their classics (or even novelty Christmas albums), this is their hardest album to date. It might be that some of their favorite topics (celebrity, gun control, and even Ronald Reagan) are just as relevant as they were back in the 80s. "Ronald Reagan Killed the Black Dahlia" may be my favorite punk rock conspiracy theory of all time. "The Great Boston Molasses Flood" ties my favorite obscure historical event with the Dresden Dolls. If you still break out any of the Dead Milkmen's back catalog, you'll want to own this one, too.

Joe Jack Talcum - "Santa Take Me Off That List"

Here's something I never thought I'd see: A Christmas song by Joe Jack Talcum of The Dead Milkmen. Set to the tune of the most familiar of Dead Milkmen songs, it's a little ditty of discovering your name on Santa's naughty list and trying to get off of it. It's no "Last Christmas," but it's almost a Dead Milkmen Christmas song, and hey, it's free.

You can download "Santa Take Me Off That List" here. While you're at it, check out Joe Jack Talcum's website to see what shenanigans he gets up to on his own, and The Dead Milkmen's website for group hijinks. 

The Dead Milkmen - "Ronald Reagan Killed the Black Dahlia"

At the risk of this site turning into an unofficial Dead Milkmen fan page, here is yet another new video for the already classic new Dead Milkmen song "Ronald Reagan Killed the Black Dahlia." It's the best 1 minute 30 seconds you'll spend all day. It's a cut and paste stop motion animated video that features Joseph McCarthy's favorite evil attorney Roy Cohn asking Ronald Reagan for help, and also Reagan killing The Black Dahlia for turning down his sexual advances. It's crazy that Reagan can still be culturally relevant 30 years later, but that's kind of the world we all live in now.

If you haven't yet, head on over to The Dead Milkmen's website and get their new album, Pretty Music for Pretty People, which I'm sure I'll write about again before the end of the year.

Halloween Mix 2014

Halloween is by far my favorite holiday. There are no family obligations, you can celebrate pretty much anyway you want (including staying inside and watching movies), it's the one time of the year my fascination with the macabre isn't considered weird, and candy, candy, candy. To celebrate, here is an alternative mix of season appropriate songs. I avoided the completely obvious ones you'll hear at least 10 times today no matter what ("Monster Mash," "Werewolf of London," "Thriller"). Instead, I went with some classic hip hop (Geto Boys, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince), punk (Ramones, The Dead Milkmen), 80s and 90s favorites (Dinosaur Jr, Letters to Cleo), current favorites (Benjamin Booker, Sallie Ford), and, of course, a smidge of metal. It's longer than our normal mixes, but 31 is 13 backwards, and 2 hours is about as long as trick or treating lasts. Plus, I love Halloween. Enjoy!