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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Milk Man
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 7 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Kill Rock Stars
Release Date: 09 March 2004
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Indie, Rock, Experimental
Summary
The San Francisco noise-rockers' latest is a concept album about the Pied Piper-esque title character, who is based on the drawings of illustrator Ken Kagami.
Also By This Artist: Friend Opportunity Offend Maggie The Runners Four
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Spin
A perfect album, except perfect is the wrong word for a band so dedicated to kitchen-sink oddness. [Mar 2004, p.96]
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Deerhoof sounds like a group of music-school whizzes playing at being a homey rock band, dividing the distance between their Steely Dan and Shonen Knife records. [31 Mar 2004]
Delusions of Adequacy
Milk Man is representative of just about everything the band does best: the melodies soar, bend, and crunch; the verse seems interminably driven by its own internal logic; and the band’s members still play with a near-telepathic singularity of thought.
Read Full Review >Logo
So horribly untrendy it’s a new-black must-have, ‘Milk Man’ is the essential oddity of 2004, and a more-than-worthy successor to 2003’s magnificent ‘Apple O’’.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
Even in its louder moments, Milk Man is a surprisingly subtle album, and one that takes Deerhoof's music in quietly exciting new directions.
Read Full Review >Splendid
If you've heard the group's last few albums, Milk Man won't seem like a notable refinement or a grand statement of purpose; they're just breaking the pop song mold, over and over again, and doing consistently inventive things with the fragments.
Read Full Review >Dusted Magazine
Deerhoof have moved away from abstract rock noise and toward more familiar structure, without losing the spontaneity of their genre-clashing sound.
Read Full Review >Tiny Mix Tapes
The album is most similar to Apple O', but while Apple O' seemed to have a somewhat lethargic quality, Milk Man sounds fresh and fully inviting. And it's a lot better.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
They've focused their maniacal energy into seriously dense and carefully considered songwriting; even the cleaner and deeper production betrays Deerhoof's commitment to letting the songs speak for themselves, and to keeping individual parts as precise and undistracting as possible.
Read Full Review >Junkmedia
Deerhoof's diversity is less a series of self-conscious genre references than a genuine proclamation of unimaginable artistic freedom.
Read Full Review >Uncut
Deerhoof's skittish collages always, miraculously, have a pop logic to them, and their desire to show that experimental music can be playful rather than forbidding is often heroic. [Jul 2004, p.102]
Neumu.net
For the first time, Milk Man finds such a sound seeming not like the product of a collective caprice, but a formula that they're following, with the few songs where they get lost in total tonal abstraction seeming like didactic decisions to ditch the rock instruments and remind everyone they were once filed under difficult listening.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
Many tracks hint at the notion that Deerhoof decided to make an entirely different album this time around, but counterbalancing these advancements are decidedly flat resurrections of past glories.
Read Full Review >Mojo
Slaloms round sing-song pop, day-glo punk and Zappa-style tune transformations. [Jun 2004, p.106]
PopMatters
Sounds like Deerhoof-in-theory: zero standout tracks, an abundance of groovy sonics.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
Seems Deerhoof have mistaken self-indulgence for experimentation. [12 Mar 2004, p.114]
Alternative Press
A barrage of unfocused fragments that prove this album should have been condensed into a seven-song EP. [May 2004, p.96]
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Benjamin Bunny gave it an 8:
Wow! I think some critics are expecting too much from Deerhoof. Listen, "Milk Man" is not as consistently genius as either "Reveille" or "Apple O," but when this LP is on it's turned up to 10! The title track gets my vote for song of the year. Buy it!!
Don W gave it an 8:
I love Deerhoof - they're a fantastic live band - but this isn't their best album. There ARE standout tracks, but there are also some duds here. If you haven't heard Deerhoof, the best place to start would be Reveille, followed by Apple O' and possibly their first album. Still, even a subpar Deerhoof album is far more interesting and more fun than most of what's out there.
Mefisto gave it a 9:
disappointing to see reviewers not appreciating this one as much as the last couple... because this record is as good as Reveille and better than Apple O... not to mention their most consistent release of the three (quality-wise)... their perverted melodic sensibilities make for a refreshingly interesting, exhilarating listen... easily among the best rock bands that this era has to offer... hopefully they will be remembered as such...
Ed gave it a 10:
Deerhoof are the most exciting thing happening in music today. Dare I say - but I will say - genius. They've been on a roll for at least the past three albums, not including this brilliant opus. I want to be part of their world. AND when was the last time music blew your mind? Wow. Thank you Deerhoof. A million times...thank you.
