The Dead Milkmen at The Mohawk (SHOW REVIEW)
Formed in 1983, the Dead Milkmen are a satirical punk band that gained recognition in the eighties by playing up-tempo surf punk songs consisting of witty yet disturbing lyrics, which were sung in their native thick Philadelphian accents. After breaking up in 1995 and going on a 13 year hiatus, the band reformed at Fun Fun Fun Fest in 2008. On Saturday the Milkmen made their way back to Austin, touring on new material, including their recently released album, The King In Yellow. Saturday’s show at the Mohawk touted face melting punk from top to bottom, showcasing two of Austin’s most promising punk and metal bands, Ghost Knife and American Sharks, each of whom played incredible sets in the blistering cold .
Ghost Knife came on first with their impressive punk pedigree consisting of lead singer, Mike Weibe, formerly of the Austin-based Riverboat Gamblers, and bassist and drummer, Ben White and Chris Pfeffer, formerly of San Francisco group J Church. The group pounded through a quick thirty-minute set that emitted enough energy to thaw the crowd out of their frozen slumber.
American Sharks picked up where Ghost Knife left off, but their style of punk was injected with a rawer and louder sound that raised the intensity level exponentially within the venue. These Austin-based rockers evoke a New York Dolls-esque, Seventies rock vibe that spills over into much harder, contemporary metal on some songs. After a solid forty-five minutes of hard rock bliss, the local trio laid down their instruments, setting a high bar for the thirty year punk vets to follow.
To say that time has been kind to the Dead Milkmen would only be appropriate within the sarcastic context of one of their songs. Lead singer Rodney Linderman looked like he had just wandered over from ARCH, while guitarist and vocalist Joe Genaro had been singed by Father Time, sporting gray hairs all over. Yet, I wasn’t there to see Miley Cyrus, Maroon 5, or some airbrushed Top 40 artist jump around. I was there to see the antithesis of that – the Dead fucking Milkmen playing their outrageously sardonic songs on an unforgivingly frigid night outdoors at the Mohawk.
The quartet opened with crowd faves like “Tacoland” and the guttural and oddly addictive “ I Walk The Thinnest Line.” Rodney’s spoken word style of punk singing can be likened to Jello Biafra of the Dead Kennedys, but is truly unique unto itself. Songs like “Methodist Coloring Book” and “Stuart” showcased Linderman’s bizarre sense of humor that hasn’t lost its hilarity through the years.
When a young hipster girl stage dived into the crowd during one of the band’s bigger hits “Punk Rock Girl,” Rodney called her out by saying, “Stage diving is no longer relevant! It stopped being relevant in 1983. You need some new dance moves, go buy some records, okay!”
The quartet fired off a few more fan favorites to warm up the crowd, like “Beach Party Vietnam” and “Bitchin’ Camaro.” The songs came one after the other in a rapid succession akin to their punk godfathers, The Ramones. The jam-packed set also allowed the Milkmen to plow through an impressive thirty songs, including a five-song encore, which concluded with the comically depressing ode, “Life is Shit.”
The Dead Milkmen may not be one of these seminal older bands that ages well and has a spot reserved in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but they are unique and can always make you laugh. The band channels the ethos of punk better than most, and the fact that they are content with creating new music and touring for their cult audience means we can still count on a few more entertaining, drunken, shout-a-long performances in the future. -Lee Ackerley
