Because we always need references in music, Milk Music’s layered and loud guitars ripping the Echoplex's entire room on Friday night, could be compared to Dinosaur Jr’s, and I think I had their name in the back of my mind during the whole show without being able to retrieve it, but it is certainly mentioned in many articles about these guys. The Olympia-based quartet was opening for Iceage and they gave us a strong set of fuzzy and propulsive music matching their laid back attitude and long hairs banging all over the place.
Their set was quite animated, there was a sort of Ariel-Pink-look going on with Alex Coxen’s bleached hair and shorts over tights, but he was producing some visceral open-throated vocals, and a nervous but triumphant feeling was coming from all that loud distortion, squalling and shredding. Dinosaur Jr.? Sure, but there was certainly more than this in their booming guitar solos, a little bit of classic Neil Young-esque Southern rock texture may be, giving them this timeless sound at times. Overall it was quite enjoyable to watch them jumping around, while playing their large-sounding upbeat songs such as ‘Cruising with God’, New Lease on Love’, ‘Illegal and Free’,…
And I swear, at mid set I wrote ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ on my phone, it must have been just one thing during one song, but there was something about the guitars which brought that tune in my mind, and I have just read that guitarist Charles Waring is a big fan of Guns N’ Roses, so it makes sense.
The Echoplex audience was first rather calm, may be it was an Iceage crowd and they didn’t know what to do with this fun and exhilarating music. However they soon got into it and asked for an encore, and when the band said they would not play one but two more songs, everybody suddenly woke up, and a large group began to dance and mosh at the squealing rock revival jubilant sound.
Milk Music is about to release their first release for Fat Possum Records, ‘Cruise Your Illusion’ on April 2nd, following their 2010 ‘Beyond Living’ EP.