Milagres release their brand new LP Glowing Mouth TODAY on Kill Rock Stars, and in tandem we’ve got the band’s Kyle Wilson with us this morning with some reference points for today’s debut. We’ve also got a chance for you to win a copy of the new one—after the jump.
“When I was in third grade, my parents packed up the contents of our tiny apartment in Portland, Oregon and moved us to a small town in New Mexico called Española. Española is most commonly referred to as as “The Lowrider Capital of the World.” It sits in Rio Arriba County, which has the highest rate of heroin overdose per capita in the US.
Being the friendly and unsuspecting Oregonian kid that I was, I did not go over well with the other kids at school in Española. I quickly earned the nickname ‘nosepicker,’ and was bullied and beat up on a daily basis. I even once had a knife pulled on me (in third grade!). After school I would come home frustrated and angry every day, and it was in those afternoon hours of before my parents got home from work that I discovered my dad’s record collection for the first time.
Given my situation, one of the first records that I came to love was Quadrophenia, by The Who. I remember getting a funny feeling in my gut listening to Roger Daltrey sing about things I was too young to actually understand yet: sex, drugs, fighting, and suicide. I knew my parents wouldn’t let me see the actual movie until I was older, so I would listen to this album all the way through while reading the lyrics often. The explosiveness of Keith Moon and John Entwistle’s playing, Pete Townsend’s beautiful segues between all of the bashing, and the white album jacket filled with images from the film my parents wouldn’t let me see made this album a true vinyl experience.
. . . Thus began what seemed like a lengthy detour into what my dad referred to as “teenage disillusionment.”
Lucky for me, my dad’s record collection was full of less depressing gems that would be the staples of my musical education: The Clash, Elvis Costello, The Cars, Kraftwerk, Joe Jackson, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel… The list went on and on.
Later, in early adolescence, my friends and I began to buy records. We bought them at thrift stores, for the most part, since that was the only place they could be found. But one day we happened upon a small impromptu record store in a shopping center. We suspected that the guy who sat behind the register was just selling off his own collection, but we were never sure.
Milagres – Glowing Mouth
He was very quiet and mysterious – not the outspoken, condescending record store guru type we were all used to. We bought records from him every day after school, until one day we showed up and his store was completely empty and he was gone.
Before he disappeared, I bought two albums on his recommendation by Husker Du: Zen Arcade and Flip Your Wig. I was blown away. This wasn’t the nihilistic ‘fuck you’ punk I’d learned to love from bands like Germs, Circle Jerks, or Black Flag. It was fast, but it wasn’t anything like the ubiquitous, generic, polished new school punk that some of my friends were into at that time. It was aggressive, but it wasn’t completely over the top like the grind-core that all of the local bands were playing. It had an experimental side, a beautiful quiet side, and some really bizarre guitar work. I had never heard anything like it before and I loved it.
Milagres – Here To Stay
It might be at least partially a nostalgia thing, but whenever I hear Bob Mould screaming the chorus on “I Will Never Forget You,” I still get chills. It’s one of the closest things I’ve ever heard to pure, unadulterated, human rage.
Anyways, I went many years later in life without a record player. I’m very happy to say that recently I found the extra change to buy myself a new one. The album I purchased most recently is Hit After Hit by Sonny and the Sunsets. It has a great drawing of Sonny’s design for “The Transformer,” the “scariest roller coaster in the US” inside, and it’s a really fun album.”
—Kyle Wilson
*Note that this song is from Sunny and the Sunset’s 2009 album, Tomorrow is Alright.
Enter to win a copy of Milagres’ Glowing Mouth by leaving us a comment to this post with your most important musical reference point or points – the bands or records that form the basis for your listening habits. The most, let’s say, revealing of the bunch will win a copy of the new LP.
We’ll choose our winner next Tuesday, 9/20. As always, you must have an address in the continental US or Canada to win.
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MILAGRES TOUR DATES
09.27 – Boston, MA @ The Middle East (Upstairs) *
09.28 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie *
09.29 – Washington, DC @ Red Palace *
09.30 – New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge *
10.03 – Raleigh, NC @ Local 506 *
10.04 – Atlanta, GA @ Drunken Unicorn *
10.07 – Austin, TX @ Lamberts *
10.08 – Denton, TX @ Dan’s Silver Leaf *
10.10 – Norman, OK @ Opolis *
10.11 – Columbia, MO @ Mojo’s *
10.12 – Bloomington, IN @ The Bishop *
10.13 – Bloomington, IL @ Castle Theatre *
10.14 – Madison, WI – The Sett @ University of Wisconsin *
10.15 – Milwaukee, WI @ Club Garibaldi *
10.17 – Minneapolis, MN @ 7th Street Entry
10.18 – Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room
10.19 – Omaha, NE @ Waiting Room
10.20 – Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
10.21 – Fruita, CO @ The Cavalcade
10.22 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Court
10.24 – Seattle, WA @ High Dive
10.25 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
10.26 – San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Shop
10.28 – San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
* WITH PETER WOLF CRIER
