Shepherd Express

August 23, 2010
By Jamie Lee Rake

The Germantown punk rock kids of Dairyland Youth have grown up in the 22 years since they first sang of young romance and other youthful adventures. Thankfully for longtime fans, they haven't grown up all that much—and they continue the fun times on their reunion album, Re:Volting. Their hooks may be a little subtler and their musical palette may have expanded to include touches of organ and sax, but any band willing to intermingle their musings on love with the benefits of monkey-repellent pants have their funny-punk bona fides in order. With band members now spread throughout the country (Denver, Milwaukee, Minneapolis), it's anyone's guess as to how often they'll play out.

Shepherd Express

August 20, 2008

"Just in time for their 20th anniversary, and a mere seven years after they began recording it, the Germantown college-rock oddities Dairyland Youth have finally finished their reunion record. Save for the cleaner recording quality, the band's new Re:Volting sounds little changed from the band's early cassette releases. These upbeat songs still ring with Sonic Youth's detached potency, Hüsker Dü's punky hooks and The Lemonheads' chiming, mumbled melodies. It's music straight out of a time capsule, but music that's aged well."

Rift Magazine

January 14, 2009

Local band via Wisconsin Dairyland Youth formed in the late '80s gaining some success in the mid '90s, touring the Midwest, West Coast and helped to launch local Twin Cities label Catlick Records (Landing Gear, Careers in Modeling). After an extended hiatus Dairyland reformed to come back with a stellar rock album, Re:Volting. Bred out of all the elements that make rock music rock, Re:Volting's drums thunder over dense, distorted guitars and clever, angsty pop lyrics that hook you in as soon as the fuzz pedal is stomped.

At the first listen Re:Volting feels like an outdated album trying resurrect itself from the graveyard of mid to late '90s rock, like it's trying to be something its not. But the more you listen to it, the more the intricacies of the well crafted guitar riffs grow on you like little vines and you realize its just being itself. A rock album. One listen quickly turns into ten. From the opening track to the finish, the record never takes its foot off the gas. It may ease off a bit, but no song gets away without being saturated with distorted energy. “C'mon, Yeah, Yeah” is pure, unabashed pop rock complete with a jangling tambourine carrying through to the chorus that tells you they'll “show you how.” How to rock? It's hard not to sing along to the c'mon yeah, yeahs that call and respond to a screeching guitar.

“105.9 degrees” is a stand out track that builds from a steady, calm, rolling guitar and swells into a tearing solo that should necessitate a great guitar solo face. You know the one. “When it Rains” downshifts to a mid-tempo rock song that's catchy, but there is NO need for the wailing saxophone that comes in and out of the song. No other instrument should be used with more caution in rock music than the saxophone and it does not belong here. However, “Hot Rock 2008” cleans the slate with a blatant rip off of '70s greats Boston, with a prevailing rock organ that builds into a tidal wave of aural euphoria. This is a perfect homage to classic rock and could easily be placed in an updated version of Dazed and Confused.

Later, free-for-all rockers like “Monkey Repellant Pants” and “Wired” crank up the juice as fun, energetic tunes that seem to be written for the listeners with ADD. “Sunday Morning Hangs” and “Backward Skate Only” finish off Re:Volting with a hint of nostalgia, allowing you to contemplate and take in the great record you just finished digesting.

With time and experience comes wisdom. Dairyland Youth have used their time wisely to put together a solid album that is rife with guitar hooks and classic alt-rock sensibilities that doesn't take itself too serious, but enough to leave you wanting more.

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Album Review

Once a revolution starts, anything goes—it’s anarchy and mayhem and fury all in one glorious moment. However, after the revolution, once the noise fades and the sounds of broken glass being swept up can be heard, the realization that you as a revolutionary will now need to make rules to organize a broken society (and likely will become exactly like the people you revolted against) is a sobering one.

Dairyland Youth’s sophomore effort, “After the Revolution” is another great and raucous exercise in Midwestern power punk, but as mentioned above, it is also a bit sobering. This time around, the boys of Dairyland Youth—guitarist Joel Gove, vocalist Brad Michel, bassist Dan West and drummer Dave West— show a deeper intelligence and songcraft that comes with age and maturity. While the humor is still there—from avoiding “the Noid” to fishing with Babe Winkleman’s Dipsy Diver Rapala and lots of beer to ironically quoting possibly the worst Bob Dylan line ever, “If dogs roam free, then why not we?”—the serious nature of songs dealing with lost friends and a lost post-Reagan nation make this a dense, challenging record.

What does the future hold for Dairyland Youth? Does it show a career filled with power pop gems like “Candi” and “Ben is Dead” or does it rather show more dark, political songs like “No Nations” and “Guardian Angels?” Now that the revolution Dairyland Youth ushered in is over, it will be interesting to see how they pick up the pieces in the days and years to come.

One thing is certain. Dairyland Youth is an original, intelligent, creative and energetic quintet that will never become like the musicians they revolted against with this album. For that alone, they demand your attention and admiration.

50/50 Magazine

Spring 1990

"Out of the rubbage comes a forgotten band. For a nine song tape, you can't go wrong for a buck fifty. It sounds like a cross between the Descendents and Mr. T Experience. Cool!"

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Album Review

The debut album from Germantown, Wisconsin’s Dairyland Youth, “Germantown Manifesto,” is very aptly named. While not necessarily a concept album, it certainly is an impressive sonic statement of the band member’s views, motives and intentions.

And true to form, since these are the views, motives and intentions of Midwestern teenagers stuck between “What am I doing tonight?” and “What am I going to do with my life?” we spend a great deal of time dwelling on bodily functions, overbearing teachers, a crush on the cheerleader captain and mowing the lawn.

“Cat Puke”—the best 2:00 song ever written about a cat’s queasy stomach—kicks off the album and as we make our way through the ironic and humorous anti-fascist and anti-sexist lyrics, it becomes clear that while everything, including perhaps the drums, might be out of tune, the overall effect of “Germantown Manifesto” shows a band that is completely in tune with society’s ills. Of course, the members of Dairyland Youth—guitarist Joel Gove, vocalist Brad Michel, bassist Dan West and drummer Dave West—choose to deal society’s ills like most teenagers…by driving cars, watching cable television and drinking beer. However, very few teenagers have the sensitivity to pull off a song full of wit and pathos like “Fotomat Girl” and then a moment later rip into this decade’s answer to “Summertime Blues,” “Wish it Were Summer.”

Dairyland Youth’s “Germantown Manifesto” expresses being stuck in the middle in many ways: in school, in intelligence, in relationships and in geography. It is also currently stuck in the middle of the cassette player in my stereo system with the volume turned up as high as it can go. I suggest you do yourself a favor and do the same.

Maximum Rock N Roll

Fall 1988

"DY wouldn't look out of place on Lookout Records. Melodic punk songs about screwed up love situations. The slightly rough production adds to an appeal of this release."

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