Where bought? I have no idea. I can't even countenance the idea that I came across a Dead Milkmen record in the UK (I haven't seen any since picking up the two I have). I remember playing at my old house in Preston back in 2006, so I've had this one a long old time.
The sunny uplands where hardcore becomes college rock is probably more of a complex story than 'people sold out and the intensity died out': sometimes misfits have smiles on their faces too. The Dead Milkmen wrote ostensibly 'nice' songs that are melodic and approachable - like REM being covered by Meat Puppets or something? - but you'd not mistake them for a commercial band.
Part of this is the up-front sense of humour (which grates a little, actually) and the other part is that the singing is kind of off-key (which is mostly charming) in a way that major audiences never seem to warm to. There are some nice songs here - 'I Hear Your Name' in particular - and it all jangles and clatters along with a sense of fun that never becomes obnoxious.
I started listening to Dead Milkmen because of the reviews on Mark Prindle's site. He even interviewed a couple of them and they both provided some interesting copy. Here's the now sadly-departed bassist Dave Blood, who in the years after the band became obsessed with Serbian culture and learned Serbo-Croat at university:
The more that I learned about this fascinating country and about these wonderful people, the stronger I was driven to spend the rest of my life devoted to studying their history, their literature, and their culture. After some formal study at Indiana University under the guidance of my good friend, Professor Bogdan Rakic', I decided in 1998 to go to live and to work in Yugoslavia (now called Serbia and Montenegro). The time I spent there (August 1998 to April 1999). to use a shopworn phrase. those were the best days of my life. I felt a great joy and excitement in my life for the first time in years. probably because I was living out my dream and it was more fantastic than I could have ever imagined it to be. Within a short time after my arrival, I secured a place at Matica Srpska, the Serbian cultural society. This gave me a great place to study and provided me access to a library of interesting books and manuscripts. Within two weeks, I had secured a decent apartment (I had been staying with a friends until I landed a place of my own) in the center of Novi Sad, a beautiful town on the Danube River. Soon after that I landed a job that paid a decent wage. Most important though, I was productive creatively again, and in new ways. During my time in Yugoslavia I penned two works of historical fiction, a poem based on a historical theme, and an article on my experiences in Novi Sad, all of which I was able to get published. I had never lived so fully in my life as I did during those days. Sure, day-to-day life was tricky. My language skills were not superb, and, of course, living in a country under international sanctions did lead to some..hmmm. let me say, hardships when it came to creature comforts. But the only reason that I left Yugoslavia was because the NATO bombing made my daily existence problematic. Sure, I was able to manage well enough (although my job kinda went "south" once the war started), and was certainly willing to "ride it out" and deal with the privations of living "under the bombs" but. my friends were (as all Serbs are), in my estimation, too willing to help me out even if it put them to some disadvantage. I could foresee a time in the future (if the bombing went on for months. which it did) where I might be an imposition on them. I had no intention to do any such thing to people who had been so good to me, so I left the country (which is a rather interesting story in itself) and returned to the US, after being there for about 10 days of the bombing. The NATO attack ravaged the country and the economy, and so for that reason (and some personal and financial reasons), I haven't been able to go back since I left in 1999. Fortunately, it now looks as if things are finally starting to turn around in Yugoslavia. Therefore, I am now in the process of attempting to secure a situation where I can go back and continue living and working (and learning) there. It is not so much that I want to get OUT of the US. This is certainly a nice place to live, but I am really, really drawn TO Serbia for emotional and intellectual reasons. It is where I need to be to continue my life.
I honestly think that is more insightful than anything I can write about this record.
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