Incredible short-lived 90s band milf out of Buffalo NY most likely named themselves coincidentally the same as the popular t-shirt acronym, since that didn't really become popularized until the movie American Pie in 1999.
They were once described as a Husker Du 45 played at 33. Hard for me to pin but it's sort of like an often dreamier melodic post pop-punk sound. Both of their studio albums are fantastic front to back and by the second one (Antidope) you can hear that they were moving even further into "dreamy" territory. Supposedly they've got a small cult-like fan base but I've never really actually met anyone else that knows them. Evidence of other super fans like me are found on some old blog posts here and there. So I felt like I needed to spread the word.
First studio album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwPpT08vPQY
Second studio album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4C_a3t6RefA
Compilation of rarities (the song Scrambled TV could have been a pop hit!):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjpY2rtlPqg
― Evan, Wednesday, 21 April 2021 14:43 (two years ago) link
This is good stuff! Kind of somewhere in between Discord and Seattle
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Wednesday, 21 April 2021 14:48 (two years ago) link
Glad you like! I'm a sucker for this kind of big guitar sound- Bailter Space has a similar effect on me for instance.
― Evan, Wednesday, 21 April 2021 14:59 (two years ago) link
They got the full tribute album treatment too! Says a lot for a band that is so otherwise unknown. These covers are pretty good, too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-6BldbVSJk
― Evan, Wednesday, 21 April 2021 16:20 (two years ago) link
Whelp! Can't say I didn't try!
― Evan, Thursday, 22 April 2021 13:37 (two years ago) link
gotta hear this thanks for making the thread evan
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 22 April 2021 13:38 (two years ago) link
Feel like I need to put one of these on on a long drive alone and let it sink in.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 22 April 2021 13:45 (two years ago) link
Hey awesome, thanks both. Would be interested in hearing your thoughts. Driving happens to be my go-to for focused listening as well.
― Evan, Thursday, 22 April 2021 13:51 (two years ago) link
Will check this out later! Talk about torpedoing yourself with a name, lol
― imago, Thursday, 22 April 2021 13:59 (two years ago) link
As mentioned they predate the pornographic acronym by many years, but yes that disclaimer is now forever attached to any mention of them at all. How annoying that must be for them.
― Evan, Thursday, 22 April 2021 14:15 (two years ago) link
that's so weird, what did it mean to them?
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 22 April 2021 14:21 (two years ago) link
Dig these clips, I'll have to check them out.
Without ascribing anything to the origin of the band's name and they may very well predate the term, but I'm not sure I'd go with "many years". I definitely heard the acronym my freshman year of college, which was '94-'95 for me. We knew what it meant long before it was popularized in American Pie.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 22 April 2021 14:23 (two years ago) link
OK fair, and that's why I worded it more loosely in my opening post. Have not found a definitive source on the name origin quite yet.
― Evan, Thursday, 22 April 2021 14:39 (two years ago) link
hard for me to believe the name origin is anything other than that
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 22 April 2021 15:19 (two years ago) link
This dates the term already in use by 1992 with earliest use unknown
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MILF
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 22 April 2021 15:21 (two years ago) link
althoughhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moro_Islamic_Liberation_Front
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, April 22, 2021 11:21 AM (nine minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink
They formed in 1991, so it's pretty hard to say but still very plausible to be a coincidence. I was just digging through old blog rants about them trying to find some mention. Back in 2009 when I discovered them there was a fan page on myspace and some other essays here and there that are just broken links now... Nothing about the name in those write-ups that still exist either.
― Evan, Thursday, 22 April 2021 15:35 (two years ago) link
I feel like there were a few other '90s bands (maybe Jackass was one?) who chose names that ended up being unfortunate, in light of big pop culture phenomena that came along.
― best time to call is friday and saturday afternoons! (morrisp), Thursday, 22 April 2021 15:42 (two years ago) link
I'd just be curious to hear the genesis of the name and where it came from if it's not the major association that comes to mind.
Etymology aside, this is cool stuff, thanks for the heads up Evan.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 22 April 2021 15:44 (two years ago) link
You're welcome! Happy to spread the word.
― Evan, Thursday, 22 April 2021 15:46 (two years ago) link
wow @ this thread. i saw them a couple times in my earliest showgoing days, had no idea they had any kind of a profile outside of buffalo, had completely forgotten about them over the last 20 years. i think i had some kind of homemade CDR comp at one point, i'll have to hunt around and see if i can dig it out
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Thursday, 22 April 2021 20:34 (two years ago) link
i really like these recordings. shame about the name.
― treeship., Thursday, 22 April 2021 20:43 (two years ago) link
― best time to call is friday and saturday afternoons! (morrisp), Thursday, April 22, 2021 10:42 AM (five hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
Although there's an entire platform called bandcamp
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 22 April 2021 20:46 (two years ago) link
had no idea about that tribute album despite the fact that i know most of the folks on it, ha. really taking me down a 2000s western new york indie rock rabbit hole here.
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Thursday, 22 April 2021 20:50 (two years ago) link
within one minute of the first song off of ha ha bus i sent the album to my guitarist, this band was invented for him probably
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, 22 April 2021 20:50 (two years ago) link
"milf tribute" has even more unfortunate connotations today
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Thursday, 22 April 2021 20:55 (two years ago) link
found a seller on discogs who had both CDs, got em both shipped for $21...looks like I'm in the milf business
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 22 April 2021 21:28 (two years ago) link
Sounds way more like Jawbreaker and all the bands of that 90s scene (I'm not super familiar with any of it) rather than anything to do with Husker Du.
― zacata, Thursday, 22 April 2021 21:35 (two years ago) link
looks like a few copies of the tribute available via my pal's store, for tru milf completists
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Thursday, 22 April 2021 22:18 (two years ago) link
Yeah the Husker Du thing is not entirely accurate! More of a memorable description really.
Nice ums!! Hope you enjoy.
― Evan, Thursday, 22 April 2021 22:22 (two years ago) link
Ah yes, I was just considering getting one from that site/store! You know them? That's great.
And btw (referring to your earlier comment), I'm not sure they really do have a meaningful profile outside of Buffalo! I'm in NJ myself but I have the internet to thank.
Would be interested in this CDR you mentioned, if you find it.
― Evan, Thursday, 22 April 2021 22:28 (two years ago) link
Everybody Should Stop Doing Everything is one of the few CD grails of mine
― Evan, Thursday, 22 April 2021 22:30 (two years ago) link
in a couple more weeks, when i can once again start haunting the used music stores and charity shops of buffalo i will keep my eyes peeled for a copy!
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Thursday, 22 April 2021 23:30 (two years ago) link
In the course of trying to figure out the origin of the band's name (the answer is the obvious one), I stumbled onto this their extant myspace page:https://myspace.com/whypeoplesuck/music/songs
― enochroot, Friday, 23 April 2021 00:52 (two years ago) link
Ah yes, that is the remains of what was once a fan page full of info. As you can see not much is left.
― Evan, Friday, 23 April 2021 01:05 (two years ago) link
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Thursday, April 22, 2021 7:30 PM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
Thanks so much! Maybe you'll even find one of their cassettes, who knows.
― Evan, Friday, 23 April 2021 02:06 (two years ago) link
Also, I can help supply mp3s too if anyone wants. Hit me up. Pretty sure my digital collection is 100% complete, self released cassettes & all.
― Evan, Friday, 23 April 2021 14:55 (two years ago) link
I feel like there were a few other '90s bands (maybe Jackass was one?) who chose names that ended up being unfortunate
Isis! (formed in 1997)
― Lee626, Saturday, 24 April 2021 02:10 (two years ago) link
Ugh yeah I think about that a lot! Feel bad for them.
― Evan, Saturday, 24 April 2021 13:59 (two years ago) link
Dunno. In the future, ISIS will be circumscribed to a particular, mercifully short period of human history that few people will actively recall, whereas the goddess Isis is eternal.
― pomenitul, Saturday, 24 April 2021 14:05 (two years ago) link
Oh man, forgot about ISIS, good band.
― longtime caller, first time listener (man alive), Saturday, 24 April 2021 17:20 (two years ago) link
listening to my Milf CDs today, good stuff....I miss the days when there were like 10,000 bands like this
odd detail: in the liner notes for Antidope, they thank "Chip Z'nuff and the whole Big Deal Bunch" (Chip from from Enuff Z'nuff). I thought for a minute maybe that band was from Buffalo originally, but nope they were from Chicago so no idea how that connection was made - or maybe he was an A&R for Big Deal?
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 29 April 2021 20:51 (two years ago) link
think the second album is clearly better, too bad they didn't make a third one
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 29 April 2021 22:04 (two years ago) link
Glad you like it! Was sort of wondering what the takeaway was from anyone that gave it time since last week. Especially you since you went as far as to order the discs.
I may be clouded after years of obsession but I do think they stand out amongst all the other 9,999 bands that they are (I admit) correctly lumped in with. Partly because they did not sound like a poor man's version of [band]; I really believe they developed their own unique voice. They had that slowly lapping waves of reverb/swelling guitar effect (I'm a novice when it comes to guitar effects tbh) that is identifiable across their discography* that I love. I dig their sappy pretty songs and their whole atmosphere. There is more angsty immediacy in Ha Ha Bus but I agree by [i]Antidope{/i] they were really showing that they were developing something further. Really special band imo.
*I digitally own all their rarities beyond the two studio albums- if anyone would ever want any of that let me know.
― Evan, Friday, 30 April 2021 03:05 (two years ago) link
whoops Antidope
― Evan, Friday, 30 April 2021 03:06 (two years ago) link
only listened to them once through each yesterday, didn't get them in the mail until them, will listen more today, but yeah first impression was definitely good - i didn't mean that they were anonymous - i was more lamenting that there used to be this whole school of kinda post-jawbox type stuff that i took for granted at the time
first impression is that they had a little more of a melodic sense than some of those bands - actually detected a little nirvana in some of the vocal melodies
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 30 April 2021 14:41 (two years ago) link
(moreso on the first album)
Right on, I just had also been reflecting on it while listening to one of their friends (who they'd shared a split 7" with) Tugboat Annie, who are great themselves but as much as I was enjoying it I was feeling a little more like there was a neon sign saying "RIYL Archer's of Loaf", and wondered if I was too close to milf to be able to realize if they too had a similar neon sign for someone with fresh ears. What I can do however is go "well I admit this one song sounds a lot like 95 era Foo Fighters... hmm is that a bad or good thing?" I've been so ~alone~ as a milf fan that I'm always burning to know if it is as objectively GREAT as I thought or if it just hits the spot for me and my very particular tastes and influences.
― Evan, Friday, 30 April 2021 15:10 (two years ago) link
Also what pedal does that guitar effect, seriously? I have never been a gearhead!
― Evan, Friday, 30 April 2021 15:12 (two years ago) link
Still want to know what pedal to buy...
Also milf rulez
― Evan, Monday, 7 June 2021 20:52 (two years ago) link
oh sorry i meant to say - i don't really know much about pedals at all, only own two a volume pedal and a simple looper, nothing that affects tone
milf does rule
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 7 June 2021 21:47 (two years ago) link
Evan i found that CDR i was looking for - send me an ILXmail and i'll hook you up
― nobody like my rap (One Eye Open), Tuesday, 8 June 2021 01:22 (two years ago) link
Hey! Sent you ilxmail did you get it?
― Evan, Wednesday, 9 June 2021 02:24 (two years ago) link
Just want to reiterate:
-One Eye Open you rock thanks again so much
-milf forever
― Evan, Monday, 13 September 2021 21:00 (two years ago) link
There's something about this band that really scratches an itch for me, like an everyband amalgam of good loc bands that opened for Jawbox in 94
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 30 September 2022 18:16 (one year ago) link
local bands
Really glad you hear the magic! And that you've enjoyed it in the long run after my initial ILX pitch.
― Evan, Friday, 30 September 2022 18:48 (one year ago) link
― mellon collie and the infinite bradness (BradNelson), Thursday, April 22, 2021 4:50 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink
After glancing upthread I'm wondering if this really happened and if there was any sort of reaction as well as if a bradpinion was ever formed.
― Evan, Friday, 30 September 2022 18:59 (one year ago) link
Visibility-attempt bump
― Evan, Saturday, 1 October 2022 15:26 (one year ago) link
― Evan, Monday, September 13, 2021 5:00 PM (one year ago) bookmarkflaglink
Still can't believe I have Everybody Should Stop Doing Everything now. It means so damn much to me! Thanks again.
― Evan, Wednesday, 4 January 2023 16:19 (one year ago) link
Evan thank you for carrying the torch and reminding me & many others about this great band!
― waste of compute (One Eye Open), Wednesday, 4 January 2023 17:20 (one year ago) link
Someone’s gotta do it!
Actually this is exciting - my favorite blog just restored all the download links so you can easily load up on their discography including the deep cuts here:
https://wilfullyobscure.blogspot.com/search?q=Milf&m=1
― Evan, Wednesday, 4 January 2023 17:27 (one year ago) link
Disclaimer: None of it is commercially available, and overall this blog is on top of removing links if and when they do.
― Evan, Wednesday, 4 January 2023 18:26 (one year ago) link
Reminder to listen to MILF once a week
― But his face would not turn into hot Kirby (Evan), Wednesday, 2 August 2023 14:55 (seven months ago) link
Whoa, actual footage of Justin Chapman (singer of milf) at the 40 second mark, significant because there's barely even photos of the band on the web these days
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd4cWd5YiMw
― Evan, Friday, 15 December 2023 17:16 (three months ago) link
Justin was the singer FYI
i still want to know what was behind this:
"Chip Z'nuff and the whole Big Deal Bunch" (Chip from from Enuff Z'nuff)
wow dude going through CDs and talking about a 7 inch by the drummer from Mule's previous band...i'm reeling right now i'm floating in the real 90s
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 15 December 2023 17:30 (three months ago) link
IDK maybe they just met through the Big Deal connection and hit it off? Hard to make any other guesses.
Yeah I've been stuck drifting out here myself for awhile
Also whoops I didn't mean to repeat that Justin was the singer... instantly forgot I already clarified
― Evan, Friday, 15 December 2023 18:13 (three months ago) link
me and my friend were the only super fans of PW Long's post Mule band PW Long's ReelfootI felt like he had a cool interesting approach to that post punk blues revivalism that was going on
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Friday, 15 December 2023 18:32 (three months ago) link
Nice! Just noticed I have some Spavid mp3s I'll need to revisit
― Evan, Friday, 15 December 2023 19:04 (three months ago) link