Music
Press
There are deep undercurrents of longing and yearning in the lyrics, cleverly disguised by the bright, uptempo music.
(Full review of How Wicked We've Become: http://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/whitman/) - Andy Whitman, Paste Magazine Blog
As you'd suspect, their lyrics have an edge, but the spirit of songs like "End of the Affair," "Perfect Breasts" and "Ugly American" is more sarcastic punk than high-falutin' poetics. And the band's propulsive, power pop music offers the sweet-and-sour whiff of an Elvis Costello or R.E.M. anthem. - Philadelphia Daily News
The Philly quartet's debut What Is All This Sweet Work Worth? finds singer/songwriter/bassist Daniel Robinson charmingly channeling the bee-stung sincerity of Elvis Costello and Matthew Sweet. - Philadelphia Weekly
Sure the music is intelligent but it’s far from exclusionary. If you’re like me you just might hear a little bit of XTC wedged in between some of the more rockin’ tunes. Good stuff. - Smother.net
What Is All This Sweet Work Worth?, the first album from Philadelphia's Milton and the Devils Party, combines lyrical complexity with powerful pop hooks. But this is no snotty adolescent parade of undergraduate pseudo-intellectualism. Sharp and catchy, this CD deserves a broad audience. - Glorious Noise
Philadelphia's own Milton and the Devils Party are a breath of fresh power-pop air. Keeping alive a beautiful tradition of romantic angst matched with seamless pop sensibilities, this quartet is keeping the spirit of the Kinks, Go-Betweens, Graham Parker and Don Dixon alive alive with this one-two punch of a record. - MagnaPhone Magazine
In the end this album proves equally rewarding for rockers and eggheads alike. Hey, who ever thought you could shake your ass to literary-inflected rock. Oh, and kudos to these boys for keeping the sound raw and therefore authentic to the era that the band draws the bulk of its influences from. - F5
Both promising and erudite, What Is All This Sweet Work Worth? demands more attention than the average pop album to be fully appreciated. - Skratch Magazine
Songs like "Theodicy Club" and "To Jane" are the hallmarks of the record, middling between rock and pop, helped along by the edgy guitar playing of Mark Graybill. What is All This Sweet Work Worth? is an impressive debut and would fit right at a frat party or the Literature Society Bimonthly Story Circle. - High Bias
All together this CD is a tremendous effort for a debut full-length. - Chorus and Verse
Discography
with Milton and the Devils Party
What Is All This Sweet Work Worth? (FDR, 2006)
How Wicked We've Become (Transit of Venus, 2007)
Photos
Bio
Daniel Robinson is a Philadelphia-based singer-songwriter. He is also the lead singer and bassist for the indie rock band Milton and the Devils Party. He claims to make rock music for thinking people or, sometimes, think music for rocking people.
Although much is made of the fact that he is also an English professor and literary scholar, Robinson is really just a writer creating music out of what he knows best. He actually believes in the relevance of art to real life, so it’s natural for him to draw inspiration from art and literature of all kinds, including such songwriters as Ray Davies, Morrissey, Lloyd Cole, Jackson Browne, and Nick Cave.
And, yes, Robinson may have some kooky ideas about the marriage of literature and rock-n-roll (see band’s name)—but the rest of his band finds this eccentricity amusing as long as it doesn’t interfere with the rocking!
With Milton and the Devils Party, Robinson has made three albums, two with with a gifted Philadelphia producer, Brian McTear; the most recent album is yet to be released.
For further information on Milton and the Devils Party, see the band's website:
www.miltondevilsparty.com
Links
