Tag Archives: milk

#841: Deerhoof – Milk Man

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I was really into the NME back around 2007. I was well into my first year of secondary school, and my musical tastes were being shaped by whatever what was on FIFA games and MTV2. NME appeared to be the magazine that gave a lot of coverage to what was playing on that channel. So, if I wanted to know more about that music and those bands, the NME was the way to go. In those years, the publication had its own web/internet radio station on their website which anyone could click on and start listening to. The only reason I know today’s song, ‘Milk Man’ by Deerhoof, is because it played on this station. From what I remember, it was played twice. The second time, I made sure I made note of what the song was called and who it was by. Lucky for me, because after that second time I don’t think the song was played on there ever again.

So, yeah, this is the only Deerhoof song I know. I tried to get through the Milk Man album years ago, but don’t think I could make it past the second song. I remember it being quite noisy. I should give it another go someday. But the ‘Milk Man’ song I could listen to all the time. When I was 12 in 2007 and heard the guitars opening the track with their little stop/starting riffs, I knew even then that it would be a song to remember. Quite cliché to say, but I mean it sincerely. The noise kicks in for those driving breaks before transitioning into the quieter verses where bassist and lead vocalist Satomi Matsuzaki comes into the frame. Her voice is perfect for the track. And her Japanese accent makes the lines so much more fun to sing. The drums are something to look out for too. Drum rolls and erratic hits on the snare are abound. Drummer Greg Saunier goes even wilder during live performances.

The track isn’t about anything deeper than what it describes in the lyrics. It’s about the Milk Man, who you can see on the album cover, who has bananas embedded in his arms, wears a mask, and wants to play happy music with the boys and girls. It’s an introduction to the character, and the album is meant to be a story about what he gets up to. I can’t get more into it than that because I haven’t heard the whole record. This is something that needs to be personally rectified.

#633: Dananananaykroyd – Infinity Milk

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About 10 years ago, my sister went to university. I was 14 years old, a teenager in year 10, and mother went to work every day usually. Whenever she wasn’t home, I would be in the house by myself…. Every teenager’s dream, right? There was a limitless amount of things I could do without either of them having to know. So what would I do? Stayed in and play FIFA all day. Really. I didn’t get out too much, no friends were really around my area. Weeks and weeks of that can take its toll. There was only so much of that game’s soundtrack (FIFA 09) I could take after a while, so I would usually put my iTunes library on shuffle and listen to that while I was in the game’s menu. It was during those times that today’s song randomly played and I realised how much of a belter it is.

I gave a somewhat curt backstory as to how I found out about the band in my post for ‘Black Wax’ six years ago. I just found that and laughed at how I worded that thing. But anyway, I downloaded the album and listened to it but probably didn’t pay much attention to all of the tracks apart from the aforementioned song and ‘Some Dresses’. Those were the only two I knew prior. ‘Infinity Milk’ I properly listened to when playing FIFA. It’s pretty mental. Comes out of the gate with a forceful ascending guitar riff that’s surrounded by two drum kits falling down the stairs in the left and right channels. It goes quiet with another sole guitar lick that alternates between sudden explosions of noise before ending in a call of ‘OH! MY! GOD!’ and finally going into the first verse.

Calum Gunn is the lead vocalist throughout most of the album. On here, he trades lines with the other vocalist (and then-drummer) John Baillie Jnr. Makes for very active listening. Gunn’ll say one line, Baillie will scream the next and by the end they’re both yelling until their lungs give out. The track pushes and pulls, emphatically slows down and thrashes for its choruses before speeding up again for the verses. It’s a rollercoaster. You don’t know where it’s going to go next. I don’t know what it’s about. The lyrics are very descriptive. Quite violent too. Mentions of blood, cutting out gums with knives, and murder in there. It’s hard to make sense of it. I read somewhere that it could be about losing your virginity(?) I can go with that. What matters is – this song is ferociously optimistic. You should give it a listen.