Pretty Music for Pretty People

Pretty Music for Pretty People
Studio album by The Dead Milkmen
Released	October 7, 2014
Genre	Punk rock, Alternative rock
Length	51:25
Label	Quid Ergo
Producer	Brian McTear and Amy Morrissey
The Dead Milkmen chronology
The King in Yellow (2011) Pretty Music for Pretty People (2014) Quaker City Quiet Pills (2023)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Alternative Press	[1]
PopMatters	8/10[2]
Punknews.org	[3]

Pretty Music for Pretty People is the tenth studio album by the Dead Milkmen, released in 2014.[4][5] It is their second studio album since reuniting in 2008.[6]

The album includes the four limited-release singles that followed 2011's The King in Yellow: ("Dark Clouds Gather Over Middlemarch", "Big Words Make the Baby Jesus Cry", "The Great Boston Molasses Flood", and "Welcome to Undertown"), and most of the b-sides from those singles, which first appeared in 2012 and 2013, in addition to previously unreleased songs.[4]

It was released on CD on the Quid Ergo Records imprint, and digitally by the band on their website on October 7, 2014. A limited edition LP with the title Pretty Music For Pretty Special People was also released by Quid Ergo, containing only the previously unreleased songs, plus the "C-Sides" from the singles which had until then only been available digitally.[7]

Production

The album was recorded at Miner Street Studios, in Philadelphia, by Brian McTear and Amy Morrissey.^[citation needed]

Critical reception

The Portland Mercury wrote: "Switching gears from hardcore to new wave to electro-inspired songs like the uncomfortably satirical 'Anthropology Days'—with lyrics inspired by various horrific and ridiculous forgotten factoids from history—they're still some of the greatest architects of observant punk rock."[8]

CD Track listing

1. "Pretty Music for Pretty People" - 3:48
2. "Big Words Make the Baby Jesus Cry" - 3:07
3. "Welcome to Undertown" - 3:43
4. "Now I Wanna Hold Your Dog" - 1:34
5. "Make It Witchy" - 2:50
6. "Mary Ann Cotton (The Poisoner's Song)" - 3:46
7. "I've Got to Get My Numbers Up" - 3:00
8. "Anthropology Days" - 3:11
9. "Somewhere Over Antarctica" - 4:11
10. "Dark Clouds Gather Over Middlemarch" - 3:12
11. "Streetlamps - Walking to Work" - 2:14
12. "The Sun Turns Our Patio into a Lifeless Hell" - 3:03
13. "The Great Boston Molasses Flood" - 3:54
14. "All You Need Is Nothing" - 3:08
15. "Ronald Reagan Killed the Black Dahlia" - 1:33
16. "Hipster Beard" - 3:50
17. "Sanitary Times" - 2:36

LP Track listing

1. "Pretty Music for Pretty People" - 3:48
2. "Make It Witchy" - 2:50
3. "Mary Ann Cotton (The Poisoner's Song)" - 3:46
4. "I've Got to Get My Numbers Up" - 3:00
5. "Sanitary Times" - 2:36
6. "Anthropology Days" - 3:11
7. "The Sun Turns Our Patio into a Lifeless Hell" - 3:03
8. "All You Need Is Nothing" - 3:08
9. "Hipster Beard" - 3:50

Personnel

The Dead Milkmen

• Rodney Anonymous – vocals, keyboards, tack piano
• Joe Jack Talcum – guitar, vocals, piano
• Dandrew Stevens – bass, tack piano, stylophone, synthesizer, vocals
• Dean Clean – drums, bells, sampler, vocals

References

1. Parker, Chris (October 14, 2014). "The Dead Milkmen – Pretty Music For Pretty People". Alternative Press.
2. Garratt, John (December 12, 2014). "The Dead Milkmen: Pretty Music for Pretty People". Popmatters. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
3. misterspike (October 7, 2014). "The Dead Milkmen – Pretty Music For Pretty People". Punknews.org.
4. "Dead Milkmen | Biography & History". AllMusic.
5. "The Dead Milkmen Bring Their Annual Halloween Scare Party to the Troc". October 28, 2015.
6. "The Dead Milkmen". Vancouver Sun. 13 Apr 2015. p. B9.
7. "The Official Dead Milkmen Website". deadmilkmen.com.
8. "All You Need Is Nothing". Portland Mercury. Retrieved 20 May 2021.