- 01Special WishesWhether it’s the self-esteem eroding blend of sludge and country on Special Wishes or the high octane rock ’n’ (fucking) roll of The Pleaser, Harvey Milk’s music is always rooted in that American landscape.from the chapter
- 02The PleaserWhether it’s the self-esteem eroding blend of sludge and country on Special Wishes or the high octane rock ’n’ (fucking) roll of The Pleaser, Harvey Milk’s music is always rooted in that American landscape.from the chapter
- 03My Love is Higher Than Your Assessment of What My Love Could BeIn 1994, Harvey Milk teamed with engineers Brooks Carter and David Barbe to record its first-released album, My Love is Higher Than Your Assessment of What My Love Could Be, put out by Yesha that same year.from the chapter
- 04“All the Live Long Day”The railroad anthem that closes the LP, “All the Live Long Day,” is particularly crushing.from the chapter
- 05Courtesy and Good Will Toward MenOne year later, Harvey Milk recorded what many fans regard as its magnum opus, Courtesy and Good Will Toward Men, originally released in 1996 by Reproductive Records and reissued by Relapse in 2007.from the chapter
- 06“Pinocchio’s Example”The ten-minute opener, “Pinocchio’s Example,” is a microcosm of the record.from the chapter
- 07Harvey Milk“Plastic Eggs” (an earlier version of which appears on Harvey Milk) begins with a ten-second burst of tom-heavy drumming that abruptly cuts out, like it’s playing on a TV and someone changed the channel.from the chapter
- 08CourtesyCourtesy…takes a turn with the fragile “I Feel Miserable” and “The Lord’s Prayer,” soft songs that sound like found recordings of an aging field hand playing guitar and piano alone in an empty farmhouse.from the chapter
- 09“Sunshine (No Sun) Into the Sun”Spiers seamlessly blends those songs into “Sunshine (No Sun) Into the Sun,” opening with whispered vocals and cheerless acoustic guitar.from the chapter
- 10“One of Us Cannot Be Wrong”The song also makes for an unsettling segue into Harvey Milk’s dejected rendition of Leonard Cohen’s “One of Us Cannot Be Wrong.”from the chapter
- 11“I’ve Got A Love”Special Wishes places hopeless sludge tracks like “I’ve Got A Love” and “Love Swing” alongside downer country ballads such as “Old Glory” and “Mother’s Day.”from the chapter
- 12“Love Swing”Special Wishes places hopeless sludge tracks like “I’ve Got A Love” and “Love Swing” alongside downer country ballads such as “Old Glory” and “Mother’s Day.”from the chapter
- 13“Old Glory”Special Wishes places hopeless sludge tracks like “I’ve Got A Love” and “Love Swing” alongside downer country ballads such as “Old Glory” and “Mother’s Day.”from the chapter
- 14“Mother’s Day”Special Wishes places hopeless sludge tracks like “I’ve Got A Love” and “Love Swing” alongside downer country ballads such as “Old Glory” and “Mother’s Day.”from the chapter
- 15Life…The Best Game in TownIn 2007, Spence once again took Trudeau’s seat, and the eminent Joe Preston joined Harvey Milk on guitar to write and record Life…The Best Game in Town.from the chapter
- 16LifeAll told, though, Life… feels like a random coupling of realized songs and practice-room riffs, the latter coming across most in “After All I’ve Done For You, This is How You Repay Me?” and “A Maelstrom of Bad Decisions.”from the chapter
- 17A Small Turn of Human KindnessIn 2009, Harvey Milk returned to trio form to write and record the melancholic A Small Turn of Human Kindness.from the chapter
- 18My Love is Higher Than What Your Assessment of What My Love Could BeIt’s a seamless composition, one interconnected piece rather than a collection of songs, taking its name from the first track of My Love is Higher Than What Your Assessment of What My Love Could Be.from the chapter
- 19TommyI guess that’s something I’ve always wanted to do, which is to write something really longform like Tommy, kind of like a rock opera.from the chapter
- 20“I Am Sick of All This Too”Pushed by Spence’s stutter-step march, “I Am Sick of All This Too” is cinematic in its glorious build.from the chapter
- 21“I Know This is All My Fault”On the heels of the harsh “I Alone Got Up and Left,” the fifth track, “I Know This is All My Fault,” begins with persistent violins.from the chapter
- 22Things Haven’t Gone WellStephen Tanner put out the 90210-inspired Things Haven’t Gone Well in his project Music Blues in 2014.from the chapter