The Dead Milkmen
It’s been around three years since the Dead Milkmen last came to town to play the Belly Up, and their just-announced tour will be heavy on tracks from their first new release since then, last year’s Welcome to the End of the World EP. It seemed for a while that the Philly band would always be remembered as little more than a novelty punk act from the mid ’80s, mostly known for their first college-radio hit “Bitchin’ Camaro” and the MTV staple “Punk Rock Girl,” with few expecting to hear from them again after their mostly unnoticed 1995 split. When bassist Dave Schulthise became the first literally dead Milkman, thanks to an intentionally fatal drug overdose, that seemed to be the final coffin nail. However, they reappeared in 2011 with their first studio album in 16 years, The King in Yellow, an alt-psychedelic gem with nary a bad track that features Dan Stevens (whose old Philly band the Low Budgets included Dead Milkmen singer/guitarist Joe Genaro) replacing the late Schulthise. Stevens will accompany the surviving founding trio on May 31 at the Belly Up.