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It appears that the experimental sludge band Harvey Milk is throwing in the towel, or at least going on hiatus. From a Steel For Brains interview with drummer Kyle Spence that ran on December 3rd:
What’s the future for Harvey Milk? Are you guys currently writing new material? Or are you kind of taking a break?
Nothing planned. We went to Europe in May, and the UK, for three weeks, and we never really talked about it or anything, but we knew what we were doing was going to be the last thing we ever do for a while. I don’t know. Maybe we’ll play shows again at some point. I’m not ruling that out. Hydra Head went out of business – not that that was unexpected or anything, but that’s not really helping us get off our ass and write a new record. But yeah, I guess we’re taking a break. [laughing] I think it’s weird, because after our last record, I’m really not sure why anybody expects there to be another one. I thought it was sort of a good way to end.
That doesn’t sound good. Harvey Milk has reformed before (between ’98 and ’06), but as the members age, the likelihood of a reunion diminishes.
(Spence also discusses his thoughts on digital music in the interview. It’s nice to hear a musician who remembers the pre-mp3 age express something other than resentment for the format: “Anything has a chance now, which is awesome.”)
If this is truly the end of Harvey Milk, I will miss them dearly. Spence is at least right that their final album, A Small Turn of Human Kindness, is a good stopping point; it was my favorite album of 2010. Like Melvins, to whom they owe a debt, Harvey Milk stood alone in a style full of sound-alikes. They regularly veered from time-dilated heaviness to drunken vigor to straight balladry, sometimes within a single song. Harvey Milk’s live performances were triumphs of discipline and communication. The whole band would perfectly sync up unpredictable hits at extremely low tempos, which is a lot harder to do than it sounds.
Throughout Harvey Milk’s troubled career, the band’s members retained a frank, self-effacing sense of humor. (Check out Spence and bassist Stephen Tanner shit-talking their own catalog here. Spence’s good-natured jab at Hydra Head acknowledges, in typical Milk fashion, how discouraging it can be for a band when a trusted label partner goes under. This band’s apparent passing compounds the hurt from Hydra Head’s retirement as an active label. Go out and buy some music today, folks.
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Harvey Milk – “Death Goes to the Winner”
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Possibly the best band in the world ever.
+1. Would hate to never see them again.
Would love to see them once…
Sucks. They were unbelievable live. Kyle Spence played a few songs with Dinosaur jr the other night. The man is a beast.
Loudest fucking band I’ve ever seen. Combined with the nature of their music, it was kind of a scary experience.
thanks for the incredible piece of news revealed here. it is heartbreaking and totally newsworthy.
No, it is me who should be thanking you for your reliable patronage and insight.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlv6BrrxD_4
‘Tis a sad day.
Say it ain’t so! You can’t split 2 years AFTER putting out your “last” album. One more song! One more Pleaser! Something damn it!
How come I always have to find out about all these bad ass bands after they break up?
Harvey Milk are great, and _Courtesy_ in particular is an amazing album. It manages to be both really strange and consistently compelling, a feat that few bands, metal or otherwise, are able to pull off.
Anyway, I’d think they could easily find another label to release future music if they decide to record again. Tumult put out _Courtesy_, which was later reissued by Relapse, along with their other early stuff. Harvey Milk probably doesn’t move enough units for Relapse, but someone at the label is obviously a big fan. I could see them getting picked up by Ipecac too. And there’s countless smaller labels that I’m sure would love to press a Harvey Milk record, right? That said, I can’t imagine these guys come close to breaking even, and I can see why they might want to call it a day (again).
Well that’s a downer on already slightly downbeat day for me… Harvey Milk have been one of the greatest bands I’ve ever heard or had the pleasure to witness. They’ve made me laugh and cry, become incredibly introspective, made me wanna rock out and inspire completely, all within the space of an album. Hopefully they’ll reform when their true mid-life crisis kicks in.
Official bummed out!