The Dead Milkmen - Bucky Fellini
1987 Fever Records

Track Listing:
1.  The Pit
2.  Take Me To The Specialist
3.  I Am The Walrus
4.  Watching Scotty Die
5.  Going To Graceland
6.  Big Time Operator
7.  Instant Club Hit (You'll Dance To Anything)
8.  The Badger Song
9.  Tacoland
10. City Of Mud
11. Rocketship
12. Nitro Burning Funny Cars
13. Surfin' Cow
14. (Theme From) Blood Orgy Of The Atomic Fern
15. Jellyfish Heaven

Line-Up:
Vocals:  Rodney "Cosloy" Anonymous, Joe Jack Talcum
Guitars:  Joe Jack Talcum, Rodney "Cosloy" Anonymous
Bass:  Dave Blood
Drums:  Malory
Sampler:  Malory, Dave Blood
Guest Piano:  Joe Jack Talcum
Guest Dobro:  Joe Jack Talcum
Guest Violin:  K. McCarty
Guest Lap Steel:  Brian Beattie
Guest Power Saw:  David Reckner
Backing Vocals:  Malory, Dave Blood, Brian Beattie, K. McCarty, Sheri Lane, David Reckner, Kim "Cookie" Cook, Dan Mapp

Website:  www.deadmilkmen.com

Shev's Rating:  B+
Average Album Rating:  B+

Quick Summary:
Being the follow-up to their debut "Big Lizard In My Backyard" and the sophomoric "Eat Your Paisley!", this was originally a tough pill to swallow.  Not nearly as classic as one would hope, but with time "Bucky Fellini" really has a tendency to grow on you.  I mean, just about everything that made The Dead Milkmen's first two albums so fantastic are still available in abundant supply:  Dual vocals; funky bass, swanky punk guitar; tons of black humor; and no less than a ga-jillion different influences ranging from country to surf to punk to 80's dance music.

In retrospect, I'm pretty much happy with everything The Dead Milkmen have released before Rodney Anonymous handed over the majority of the vocal duties to Joe Jack Talcum.  None the less, this is still an album full of great songs, but there's really only a few that stick out and stand the test of time like The Pit, Tacoland, and City Of Mud.  It's an overall good album that any Dead Milkmen fan is sure to enjoy.

Song summaries include...

1. The Pit - A classic Dead Milkmen song with Rodney and Joe sharing vocal duties to kick off Bucky Fellini.  A
2. Take Me To The Specialist - Fairly dark sound as far as The Dead Milkmen are concerned.  Loses focus in places to give it an insane, jumbled-thoughts tone, but with that aside, premium stuff.  A-
3. I Am The Walrus - A slower, funky "Big Lizard In My Backyard" influence along with their current (at the time) sound.  Good, but a little out of place.  B
4. Watching Scotty Die - Step aside Jimmy Buffet and Johnny Cash.  If you're in the mood for some southern flavor, it's not too bad.  C+
5. Going To Graceland - Probably could have shaved off 30 seconds to a minute to keep it short and sweet, but a pretty cool, bouncy song with a few inadequate breaks.  B-
6. Big Time Operator - Cheesy alternative/blues fusion.  This would have sucked horribly if they took themselves at all seriously.  Luckily it's just some sloppy nonsense...much like the guy at the actual Dead Milkmen message board who calls himself "BigTimeOperator".  That guy's a moron.  B
7. Instant Club Hit (You'll Dance To Anything) - Even for a joke song making fun of 80's pop/dance, this is barely listenable.  Bonus points for finding a way of working a synthesized voice repeating "art fag" into the song.  D
8. The Badger Song - Laid-back, standard Dead Milkmen song.  A little too repetitious and delicate for my liking.  C
9. Tacoland - Great speedy song with slight Hawaiian influences and smokin' bass.  A
10. City Of Mud - Comes in two flavors:  Distorted, angry & hasty vs. bass-fuddling with simplistic piano.  Overall a nice, straightforward, catchy mix.  A
11. Rocketship - Joe Jack Talcum gives me a migraine on vocals.  This song is friggin' awful in every friggin' way imaginable.  F
12. Nitro Burning Funny Cars - Has a great energetic tempo and the lyrics are top notch warped humor...but the music itself seems to have a hard time blending together.  B-
13. Surfin' Cow - Dead Milkmen dinner music.  Groovy.  B
14. (Theme From) Blood Orgy Of The Atomic Fern - Fast, catchy number complete with a retarded Doors-like poetry break.  B
15. Jellyfish Heaven - Appropriately put at the end of the album, The Dead Milkmen fuse classic rock into their own sound while adding new highs of moronic lyrics.  A-

Shev's Rating:  B+

Also be sure to read:
The Dead Milkmen - Big Lizard In My Backyard by Shev
The Dead Milkmen - Eat Your Paisley! by Shev
The Dead Milkmen - Now We Are 20 Quick Review by Shev
Hunger Artists - Cruisin' In Zargon Quick Review by Shev