Photos and review by NOTES FROM VIVACE
LOS ANGELES – At a sold-out Permanent Records Roadhouse, Milly had a fun time blasting the roof off the record store-music venue on Friday night. Any seriousness was to be left at the doorstep. This was a night to ignore the grind of the work week and start enjoying the weekend.
Even the band’s setlist showed a carefree attitude of potential inside jokes. “Ryan’s Talking Seacrest” was code for their 2019 song “Talking Secret” from their Our First Four Songs + Wish Goes On album. There was “Yarden’s Fountain” named after their bassist Yarden Erez and code for their just released single “Drip From The Fountain” from their upcoming June 28th album release Your Own Becoming.
As for the single “Drip From The Fountain,” their press release says the following, “By far the most infectious song of their entire catalog with an explosive chorus and airtight melodic hooks that recall early Death Cab For Cutie, the track serves as the North Star for the entire LP, capturing the sense of clock-ticking despair . . . ”
The band didn’t let the audience wait too long to hear “Drip From The Fountain” as it was the second song on the set list. Someone in the audience, as so appropriate based on the code name, yelled out, “F*ck yeah, Yarden.” Erez stepped up to the microphone as the band made their tuning adjustments, “This song we’re about to play came out on Wednesday, which is also his [songwriter, vocalist, guitarist Brendan Dyer] birthday. He turned seven.”
The song started off with drummer Connor Frankel hitting the sticks against each other. Newest member Nico Moreta on guitar provided the groves while Erez had his bass mesmerizing with the musical hooks. One of the words from the lyrics that you distinctly hear Dyer sing is “disaster.” “In a world disaster built like a broken contest. Still the years fall after. And the dust holds the time. I know I know it’s running out and there’s nothing left to say. Just like a drip from the fountain.”
The music video takes place at a small air strip. At the end, there is a conversation held with a pilot who tells the band that he’s setting aside 60 days to fly around the globe. Is it a hopeful message that maybe you can turn that fountain back on? Of course, maybe one needs to know if the pilot actually went through with his plans.
Though the focus was on “Drip From The Fountain,” the very next song up on the setlist with the code name “DJ Karp” will blow you three feet back. “Spilling Sonny (aka Spilling Ink)” had Dyer jumping around the stage and swinging the guitar high above his head. No doubt he would have played from the rafters if there were any around. The final song of the set with the code name “I Learn Nothing (aka Nothing To Learn From),” is a grunge-infused song. With that the band closed it out with a “Have a good night. That’s all folks.”
Opening up for Milly was Blimp. Their music is heavy with guitar and bass strings that are turned into beats of a modular synthesizer. If one closed their eyes, one could imagine a synthesizer on stage.
Their sound is a merger of electronic and punk with a dash of Arnold Schoenberg. At times their music started off with a melody driven tune before turning into a shaking earthquake. Their song “TV” had the crowd forming a mosh pit. Their final song “Farmer” had the solemnity of a dirge to the dead.
Milly Setlist: Passing Glow, Yarden’s Fountain, DJ Karp, Illuminate the Kid, Guided By Desi, Ryan’s Talking Seacrest, Bittersweet Daniel P., Spilling Sonny, British Band Cover, Grab Conner’s Nose, I Learn Nothing
Blimp Setlist: Hand Mirror Suite, Stone, TV, How To Please Your Man, Sacch, Farmer