After 20 long years the amazing, the infamous, the lactose-laden kings of Punk Rock comedy returned to Houston. The Dead Milkmen were also backed by Texas natives Radioactivity(featuring members of The Marked Men) for the tour, and some of Houston's more peculiar acts to mesh in perfectly for the show.
Do you know what the queers have been doing to the soil!? Well, click "Read More" to find out!
Do you know what the queers have been doing to the soil!? Well, click "Read More" to find out!
Skeleton Dick unleashed a comedic modern pop-punk set that, somewhat surprisingly given the general unserious nature, kept a rather focussed approach to barreling through their songs with the utmost precision. Said songs included topics such as robots and using an Oscar Meyer hot dog as a tampon, all of which seemed to be warmly received by the crowd who would often heckle the band(and vice versa). After half an hour of thoroughly preparing the crowd for the funny and furious night ahead they bid everyone good night.
Muhammad Ali featured what was probably the most eccentric sound of the night(and maybe even for the whole Houston punk scene). With slightly rockfish influenced musical backing, and often echo laden vocals, the band struck an interesting and unique sound that made for a fantastic show. With two pounding drummers(one of which pounded through in a leg brace), dirty distorted bass rhythms, and a somewhat mysterious frontman who would remain with his face covered in hair for a good portion of the night, it's clear that Muhammad Ali is not your average band. The set was topped off perfectly by the front man ripping out the strings of his guitar with his bare hands, who then continued to swing said instrument around until slamming it against his amp as its resting place.
Radioactivity tore through a Garage-y Punk set that was well-recieved by the crowd. With blasting, dirty, and trebly guitars, hook-laden riffs, the band seemed to strike a fine balance between grit and polish, making their songs shine through as something more than you'll find from the average Punk or Power-pop band. They stuck to blazing through their set, not leaving much time to speak with the crowd, though no one seemed to mind in the slightest given the jostling flowing through the venue floor, and even the occasional pit. After holding the stage down like true pros with melding of dirty,(at times even intentionally detuned) raw music, and stop-on-a-dime precision they announced their leave nd the impending
The Dead Milkmen finally took the stage to a more than rabid crowd that nearly filled Walter's to the brim. Two decades of waiting, anticipation, and despair had led up to this moment for many. They wasted little time diving into the set, launching into the up-beat "Tacoland" after just a few words. Upon hearing the pounding beat, and trademark twangy guitar, instantly a chorus of fans of all ages could be heard gleefully singing along to the whimsical tune. From there, with only a menacing smile from singer Rodney Anonymous, they launched into a speedy version of the classic first album opener "Tiny Town", which milked even more volume from the voices of the crowd, and evoked a swirling pit. The Milkmen continued through an onslaught of songs both new and old, which stood as a testament to how well the band has aged(which only seems to have happened physically as opposed to mentally or musically). Highlights include: "Serrated Edge", "Methodist Coloring Book", "Punk Rock Girl", the comical trailer park rant-song about the timeless issue of what the queers are doing to the soil; "Stuart", among many, many others. Each song sounded just like any adolescent punk would dream, as the band spared no effort in recreating their songs to perfection, even the trippy effect-heavy "Smokin' Banana Peels" came to life that night thanks to Rodney's technological toys.
After about 15 songs the band reached the halfway point of their set, and despite being a band highly regarded for their sense of humor, they had said little to the crowd. But just upon this coming to this realization they launched into the dialog heavy "Bitchin' Camaro", which featured Rodney regaling fans with his steadily worse month, which included falling down the stairs painfully, yet not spill a drop of wine in his glass, only to be topped off with facing daunting Xmas songs. With a short and sudden switch of Rodney mentioning that Jesus has a car now, ripping song started, and began a hyper swirling pit. The response of the show-goers the entire night was amongst the best I've ever seen, and at times even seemed to surprise the band. During the guitarist, Joe-Jack Talcum, sung "Dean's Dream" a startled look seemed apparent at the noticeably loud roar of "We had to leave!" during the second half of the song. Eventually the band wound down their set with "Big Lizard", and "Beige Sunset", but given that the stage was completely surrounded by fans, they realized they couldn't even make an attempt to leave, and so quickly caved to cries for more.
They announced the encore would be dedicated to guns, and would feature a few new songs, including one that had never been played before. After running through their new single "Welcome To Undertown", "If I Had A Gun, and the new song(which seemed to be called "America" according to Rodney's computer screen), they decided it was necessary to continue even further with the hymn like "Life Is Shit". In a funny twist though, instead of basking in the suspenseful pause before the choir like ending chorus they launched into "Filet Of Sole", though they revisited the sing-along ending for the perfect cow-head topper on top of the milk bottle tree for the night.
Muhammad Ali featured what was probably the most eccentric sound of the night(and maybe even for the whole Houston punk scene). With slightly rockfish influenced musical backing, and often echo laden vocals, the band struck an interesting and unique sound that made for a fantastic show. With two pounding drummers(one of which pounded through in a leg brace), dirty distorted bass rhythms, and a somewhat mysterious frontman who would remain with his face covered in hair for a good portion of the night, it's clear that Muhammad Ali is not your average band. The set was topped off perfectly by the front man ripping out the strings of his guitar with his bare hands, who then continued to swing said instrument around until slamming it against his amp as its resting place.
Radioactivity tore through a Garage-y Punk set that was well-recieved by the crowd. With blasting, dirty, and trebly guitars, hook-laden riffs, the band seemed to strike a fine balance between grit and polish, making their songs shine through as something more than you'll find from the average Punk or Power-pop band. They stuck to blazing through their set, not leaving much time to speak with the crowd, though no one seemed to mind in the slightest given the jostling flowing through the venue floor, and even the occasional pit. After holding the stage down like true pros with melding of dirty,(at times even intentionally detuned) raw music, and stop-on-a-dime precision they announced their leave nd the impending
The Dead Milkmen finally took the stage to a more than rabid crowd that nearly filled Walter's to the brim. Two decades of waiting, anticipation, and despair had led up to this moment for many. They wasted little time diving into the set, launching into the up-beat "Tacoland" after just a few words. Upon hearing the pounding beat, and trademark twangy guitar, instantly a chorus of fans of all ages could be heard gleefully singing along to the whimsical tune. From there, with only a menacing smile from singer Rodney Anonymous, they launched into a speedy version of the classic first album opener "Tiny Town", which milked even more volume from the voices of the crowd, and evoked a swirling pit. The Milkmen continued through an onslaught of songs both new and old, which stood as a testament to how well the band has aged(which only seems to have happened physically as opposed to mentally or musically). Highlights include: "Serrated Edge", "Methodist Coloring Book", "Punk Rock Girl", the comical trailer park rant-song about the timeless issue of what the queers are doing to the soil; "Stuart", among many, many others. Each song sounded just like any adolescent punk would dream, as the band spared no effort in recreating their songs to perfection, even the trippy effect-heavy "Smokin' Banana Peels" came to life that night thanks to Rodney's technological toys.
After about 15 songs the band reached the halfway point of their set, and despite being a band highly regarded for their sense of humor, they had said little to the crowd. But just upon this coming to this realization they launched into the dialog heavy "Bitchin' Camaro", which featured Rodney regaling fans with his steadily worse month, which included falling down the stairs painfully, yet not spill a drop of wine in his glass, only to be topped off with facing daunting Xmas songs. With a short and sudden switch of Rodney mentioning that Jesus has a car now, ripping song started, and began a hyper swirling pit. The response of the show-goers the entire night was amongst the best I've ever seen, and at times even seemed to surprise the band. During the guitarist, Joe-Jack Talcum, sung "Dean's Dream" a startled look seemed apparent at the noticeably loud roar of "We had to leave!" during the second half of the song. Eventually the band wound down their set with "Big Lizard", and "Beige Sunset", but given that the stage was completely surrounded by fans, they realized they couldn't even make an attempt to leave, and so quickly caved to cries for more.
They announced the encore would be dedicated to guns, and would feature a few new songs, including one that had never been played before. After running through their new single "Welcome To Undertown", "If I Had A Gun, and the new song(which seemed to be called "America" according to Rodney's computer screen), they decided it was necessary to continue even further with the hymn like "Life Is Shit". In a funny twist though, instead of basking in the suspenseful pause before the choir like ending chorus they launched into "Filet Of Sole", though they revisited the sing-along ending for the perfect cow-head topper on top of the milk bottle tree for the night.
After a long 30 song or so set, the band had more than done their part in engaging the crowd, but while talking to Bryan of Muhammad Ali(amongst many other top-notch local bands) he reasonable mentioned that you can't ask them for anymore of a show than that, yet I had to honestly disagree knowing full well, the band had done their part, there is always more room for more of The Dead Milkmen. They just don't cease to amaze.
You still don't understand what the queers ae coin' to the soil!? You can see right here in them there Pictures!
You still don't understand what the queers ae coin' to the soil!? You can see right here in them there Pictures!
