In our weekly MKE Music Rewind, we revisit a notable Milwaukee song that was released before Milwaukee Record became a thing in April 2014.
There are great albums that work as unified wholes, able to be listened to and enjoyed in one sitting. Then there are great albums that, despite their greatness, are overshadowed by one killer single. In Milwaukee, albums like Whips’ The Ride, Field Reports’ Summertime Songs, and WebsterX’s Daymares fall into the former category. Whenever I think of the latter category, Like Like The The The Death‘s 2012 record Ghosts Of Dead Bros, and its killer single “Holy Ghosty”, immediately come to mind.
I know it may sound like a backhanded compliment (or even a straight-up put-down), but I’m filled with nothing but love and respect when I say “Holy Ghosty” is such a great song that the rest of Dead Bros can’t possibly hope to compete. I really, really like the album; I absolutely love the song. Just listen:
Oh, that Pixies-esque opening guitar screech. Ah, that bouncy rhythm that reminds me of latter-day Sonic Youth. Yes, that unwieldy band name (taken from the title of a Silver Jews song) that, even today, I have to triple check to make sure there are enough “the”s.
About that band: Founded “with drunken handshakes on Oct. 16, 2010, at a Cactus Club show,” LLTTTD included scene regulars Anthony Weber (guitar and vocals), Kyle Scheuer (bass and vocals), Michael Marchant (guitar), and Dan Hanke (drums). The group released two albums on the venerable (and since-departed) Latest Flame Records: Dead Bros in 2012, and Cave Jenny in 2013. If you want to hear the sound of Milwaukee in the early years of the decade, these records are a perfect not-so-distant-past time machine.
And then they were gone. Two years after the release of Jenny, LLTTTD penned their own “in memoriam”:
Like Like The The The Death
(2010-2015)All we ever wanted was for people to Google our band name only to discover the Silver Jews and listen to them instead.
Seriously though, this doesn’t need to be long-winded. We ran our course. It happens.
We wrote and released two albums that we are entirely proud of. And they’re on the internet for free now. If you don’t own them, have at it: http://likelikethethethedeath.bandcamp.com
Thanks to anyone who has ever seen us play / booked a show / put us up in their house / made merch and / or fed us. You know who you are and your kindness is what makes being in a band worth it.
On to new endeavors! Cheers, guys!
I like (like) that goodbye a lot. Like Like The The The Death ran their course. They made some great records. They moved on to new endeavors. (Weber currently plays in Heavy Hand; Scheuer, Marchant, and Hanke play in the new Rally.) They also made a hell of a song. It happens.