Album Review: "You Can't Fall Off The Floor" by What Made Milwaukee Famous

From time to time, we all hear about bands without really knowing why that's happened. It would be the most appropriate for this to be said about the Austin, Texas outfit, What Made Milwaukee Famous, by me. It should be highlighted that this group is not in fact from Milwaukee, nor did they make Milwaukee famous. Their name was taking from the Jerry Lee Lewis song, "What's Made Milwaukee Famous Has Made A Loser Out of Me."

In most normal cases, these group would not get much of a second look from the likes of me, but upon watching their video on Youtube, it felt like there was something there that was really worthy of a second look. It very well could have been the quite well done music video. It could have been the catchy hooks and vocals. All in all it was probably the fact that this group can write a damned fine song. This was the group that caused me to stop buying CDs only. This album is not available in a physical form, but on iTunes, Amazon, etc as MP3 only.

 These guys have been in the game for over a decade and have three albums to show for it with the subject here being their most recent, having been released in early 2013.

This album is a lighthearted romp that's just fun from the moment it starts up. The songs aren't too busy and they're certainly not very dense. The guitars and bass tend to take a back seat in the mix to both the vocals and drums. There's a significant musical connection between the drums and the vocals.

This album hovers between pop, indie rock, and pop punk at pretty much all times.I couldn't tell you how they describe their music, but I hope they describe it as good. Though there are no bombastic solos or any serious guitar playing at all this is still a really enjoyable album. There is clearly no I in this team. All of the pieces of each song go to serve only one purpose, the song itself. Even though the music is very vocally driven, the song is always served first.

If styles of music were areas on the ice of a frozen pond, this group of Texans would have to be spectacular ice hockey players, as they weave in and out of styles with reckless abandon from acoustic balladry, to southern slide, and, yes, even dirty rock riffage. When they set their sights on a style they charge into it and somehow find a way for it to fit effortlessly into their album. To me, this is a very significant ability. By moving in and out of styles, the album never gets stale or boring, but how can a band make an album with a varied catalog and it still sound like one album? Very well done.

Unlike most bands in this day, they kept the running time of this album to about forty one minutes, also known as right in the pocket for the classic album length of 40 to 45 minutes. More bands should really consider going back to this. A TV show is 30 minutes, a concert is 90 minutes, a movie is 120 minutes. Keep your albums shorter and they'll be better. Sorry...a bit of a pet peeve lately.

This is a very good album that's fun, easy to listen to, and would pair very well with not being dead.

Year: 2013
Genre: Rock (Indie/Pop)

Tracklisting:
1) Silence Is The Loudest Answer
2) Gone and Done It Now
3) Down
4) Rosewood (Featuring Kathleen Edwards)
5) Sorry (Again)
6) Grand Entrance. Awkward Exit
7) Demons & Monkeys
8) Swift Justice For Christmas
9) Prescription for Purpose
10) Just Run
11) Leftovers