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The Dead Milkmen are four Philadelphia Smart guys who amuse themselves at the expenses of Elvis cultists, Bruce Springsteen, sensitive young white people who dress in black, and Texas guitar heros. They deliberately do dumb songs about things like making friends with a badger and the importance of not wolfing down your food when you're dining out on rocks and chopped glass. There's a debate in the rock press about whether they're funny or not. -THE NEW YORKER
Hey they're Funny. They're Loud.
They're Fast. They're Violent.
They're a football game.
They're a Hockey fight
They're an air raid warning...
They're my Band.
-Jim Walewander, Professional Baseball Player
They are young snots of
the year hands down.
- Robert Christgau, VILLAGE VOICE
The irreverent Philadelphia quartet never sounded better...
Their patent brattiness is fully unleashed on Soul Rotation.
-Robert Gordon, CREEM
THe Dead Milkmen have been walking on a thin line for a long time. Honing a unique vision of absurdity that has lasted seven years, The Dead Milkmen have remained dedicated to a formula of burlesque with punk rock sentiments that has spoofed, satirized or mangled popular culture.
Best known for the single and video for "Punk Rock Girl", the Dead Milkmen have released five albums. Their seven year history is littered with alternative hits: "Bitchin' Camaro," "VFW," "Right Wing Pigeons," "Tiny Town," The Thing That Only Eats Hippies," "Instant Club Hit," "Watchin' Scotty Die," "Swordfish," "Stuart," "Smokin Banana Peels" and "Punk Rock Girl." Always irreverent, the Dead Milkmen have spread no subject from their formula, not even themselves (listen to the song "Now Everybody's Me"). Song subjects include small-minded bigotry ("Tiny Town, Stuart"), big-minded snobbery ( "Born To Love Volcanos"), the Beatles ("Ringo Buys A Rifle"), Sha Na Na ("In Praise Of Sha Na Na"), drugs ("Smokin' Banana Peels," "Junkie," "Two Feet OFf THe Ground," "Plum Dumb"), materialism ("Dollar Signs In Her Eyes," "Everybody's Got Nice Stuff But Me,"),LOVE ("Punk Rock Girl," "Swampland Of Desire"), wife abuse ("RC's Mom"), pollution("Watchin' Scotty Die"), rock legends("Air Crash Museum," "Going To Graceland"), and popular culture ("City OF MUd," "Instant Club Hit," "The Thing That Only EAts Hippies," "Nitro Burning Funny Cars"). Unlike many artist today, the Dead Milkmen are content with pointing to a subject without demanding a correct response from its audience
The Dead Milkmen have also taken to the music industry in their own style. They sang a song on MTV's "120 Minutes" about how they didn't want to be there. They handcuffed themselves to Downtown Julie Brown after a mocking performance on "Club MTV." While at an industry party, Rodney Anonymous greeted teen-diva Tiffany with a hand full of rubber worms.
In their history the Dead Milkmen have remained true to their insolent convictions, haven't followed any trends and have paved a path no one has followed. They have sold over 750,000 records, performed to over a Million people and have the dubious honor of being the only non-Heavey Metal/Top 40 band to have the #1 most requested video on MTV. They completed their first tour of Europe last winter, are engaged in a war against several conspiracies, most notably cheese, and are looking for UFO's.
The new record (their sixth), entitled Soul Rotation,is the first for Hollywood Records. It was produced by Ted Nicely, who has produced several Fugazi records, various DC bands and was Tommy Keene's bass player. Soul Rotation,was tracked at the Warehouse in Philadelphia, and was mixed at Omega Studios in Rockville,MD. Their first record in two years, Soul Rotation, is stronger from begining to end than their previous efforts, and features perofrmances by the Uptown Horns on three songs. Thematically the album is free of parody but heaps on the sarcastic sense that brought out such songs as "Punk Rock Girl," " Right Wing Pigeons," and "Bitchin' Camaro" in the past. Its song titles include, "The Secret Of Life"(a pop ride on a UFO), "Shaft In Greenland"(see how it feels to be shaft in Greenland), "God's Kid Brother"(what if there were two gods?), " How's It Gonna Be"(living isn't easy but dying is really rough), "War Toys"(all my life I wanted to fire a bazooka), and "All Around The World"(there are people who wanna kill me all around the world). The first single and video will be for the song "The Secret Of Life." Adam Berstein, who directed all of their previous videos, will agian be at the helm. The band plans to tour heavily following the release of the record.
The Dead Milkmen distribute a newzletter free of charge. To request a newzletter or correspond with the band, write to P.O. Box 58152, Philadelphia, PA 19102-8152.
Management: David Reckner/RAW ltd.-Philadelphia,PA 215-232-9023
500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California 91521 818-560-5670
