Co-Ed Dorms – Milk Drinker
Genre: Indie-rock, Psychedelic-rock
Somewhere along the way, rock musicians felt like they needed to give more to the world than simple twist-shaking tunes. They had an audience that needed guidance. Who were they going to get it from, if not the people that they were paying money to walk on stage?
Some of these musicians criticized the masters of war and talked about giving peace a chance. Others recorded albums full of feedback or absurdist poetry. All of them were told by the people they employed that they were changing the world.
Still, few of them used their music to talk about small things. Most likely, they didn’t even stop to appreciate those things for their own benefit. When folks like Jonathan Richman did write songs about ordinary stuff, they weren’t greeted by many as visionaries with a childlike innocence.
The world needs a complication. Co-Ed Dorms understand this. The impregnable poetry of Milk Drinker is like an abstract picture of a tea kettle. Everyone can relate to the theme, and few will understand why it has to be presented in this way. But give it your time, and you might well be rewarded and even see some of your life with new eyes.
West Wickhams – This is a Hang Up
Genre: Post-Punk, Psychedelic-Rock
There was a time when every pop group seemed to sing in beautiful harmony, orchestrate their songs to be as lush as possible, and occasionally play blistering solos on their instruments.
Everyone accepted that this was just the way that things had to be. Of course, audiences eventually got tired of all this beauty. Unless it could surprise them any longer, or at least say something truthful about their lives, why should they bother?
Some of the people in the audience decided that the best way to make sure that their issues were tackled was to produce their own music. Some were discouraged by the scope of their endeavor, but the majority were not.
West Wickhams’ This is a Hang Up contains the beautiful innocence of a DIY effort, a post-punk number that sounds like it was recorded in somebody’s kitchen. It needs this for it to be presented as the work of a reliable narrator. You’ll need to listen closely, but once you prick your ears, you’ll be hearing a genuinely well-written, tender song.
