So full disclosure I run a record label and I’ve come to an agreement with Blood Makes Noise to let me promote releases every week. The idea is every week I will present a playlist with some new Mint 400 Records music and what I think inspired our songwriters. This week is a little different though, this week we are celebrating NJ music veterans The Milwaukees and their brand new album “The Calling”.
The Milwaukees have been a band for 2 decades and were at the heart of a very cool Hoboken music scene in the early 2000’s, where Maxwells was the central hub for up and coming bands. The Milwaukees are a band that I feel a special kinship with because I too have been doing the same band for 2 decades. The Milwaukees at it’s core is Dylan Clark as the bands soul member that has been there the whole time. To quote an article by Jason Kundrath of the band Hero Pattern done for ThePopBreak .com, Dylan said in 2010:
“And I really wanted to change the name. … I didn’t think it was The Milwaukees at all, but at some point, Jeff kinda convinced me that as long as I’m singing and writing the songs, it’s The Milwaukees.”
The cool thing about a band like this is the growth you can see in Dylan & Jeff over the 20 year period. I think at the beginning they were similar in some ways to Val Emmich, Hero Pattern, Gameface, Penfold and other bands of that era, hence why I included all of those bands on the playlist today. But the mature version of this band has grown by leaps and bounds and I compare them to Kings of Leon because it has a hint of similarity. The Milwaukees have essentially matured to the point that they are now the band we all knew they could become. This band could play arena’s tomorrow in front of thousands of people and put on the same kind of show that any number of current arena bands put on. They almost feel too big for my indie label.
Like many bands that are excellent, sometimes life gets in the way. However for the bands with that burning inside to create whether or not acclaim and accolades are there or not, The Milwaukees show they still have something left to say, something left to sing about. In the same PopBreak article mentioned above Dylan also says:
“I’ve done it since I was 13. Since I picked up a guitar, I always wrote songs It’s something that’s quite easy for me and it’s really enjoyable. And for me, it’s almost like therapy, without actually having to go.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. When bands have passion like that for their music, the winner is the listener. If you are just discovering The Milwaukees you have two decades of material to catch up on and their fantastic new album “The Calling”.