Milk Music

A great deal of heart has been put into the music scene of Olympia, WA. Modest Mouse's debut, This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, was recorded in the city. Kurt Cobain wrote Nevermind while living there. Over the last few decades, the development of such a prolific and influential music scene in a city with a population just shy of 50,000 suggests that Olympia is a place for musicians who care deeply about music. Accordingly, Olympian band Milk Music have little time for the distractions or jadedness that might come from a different city or scene. On debut full-length Cruise Your Illusion, Milk Music showcase an apparently clear vision that could only come from a band well-versed in music history. Illusion contains 12 songs engulfed in burning fuzz, ripping guitar riffs and wonderfully strained, howling vocals. They've drawn comparisons to the '80s and '90s rock'n'roll of Dinosaur Jr., but they'd prefer to be associated with the likes of Neil Young. Indeed, singer Alex Coxen's lyrical and vocal approach is one that feels sweetly cerebral. On the West coast, it seems like the further north you go the less of a slacker mentality you'll find in the music. In San Diego, you might find the sunbaked stoner music of Wavves, while in Vancouver you might hear the explosive shred and painstaking hard work of Japandroids. Somewhere in the middle, there's Milk Music, whose music showcases both work ethic and passion, while also exuding a feeling of complete looseness and freedom. Cruise Your Illusion sounds like proud, but humble music from a band doing exactly what they want on their terms. Coxen describes his musical ambitions as such: "Some day, I'd like to be rich, but I take music way too seriously to cash in."