Author, college professor and punk-rock music fan Tyler Sonnichsen knows how to combine his passions. Just look at his new book, The Dead Milkmen, published on Tuesday by J-Card Press.
Sonnichsen’s first foray into music history charts the rise, fall and unlikely return of quirky Philadelphia hardcore legends the Dead Milkmen. Formed in 1983 and best known for idiosyncratic singles from the MTV era such as “Punk Rock Girl” and “Bitchin’ Camaro,” the band was truly one of a kind, coming of age when college radio gave a boost to weird, hard-to-classify acts like themselves, the Violent Femmes and Camper Van Beethoven. Those groups would in turn inspire bands such as the Mountain Goats and fellow Pennsylvanians Ween.
Sonnichsen, 43, tracks the Dead Milkmen’s story with the obsession of a fan, but he’s hardly just an inspired punk rocker raving about bygone scenes. A senior lecturer of geography and geosciences at the University of Vermont, he brings a rich context, including urban geography, the media landscape of the ’80s and early ’90s, and even the concept of public memory, to bear on his vivid portrait of a band like no other.
“People in my generation, we had analog childhoods,” Sonnichsen explained in a phone call last week. “There were gates around what you could get your hands on, which dictated the way a band like the Dead Milkmen could be experienced. You had to have the courage to sit down with the cool kids in crass T-shirts and ask them what they were listening to.”
Sonnichsen will talk about the book on Monday, July 6, 6:30 p.m., at Autumn Records in Winooski, as part of a tour featuring several authors who have written books for Bloomsbury’s 33 1/3 series on popular artists and famous albums. The event also features writers Kevin Dunn and Michael T. Fournier, who have written about the bands Stiff Little Fingers and the Minutemen, respectively, as well as fellow Burlington author Ray Padgett, who chronicled the songs of Leonard Cohen in I’m Your Fan.
Though Sonnichsen was already a follower of the Dead Milkmen when he started researching his book years ago, the increased exposure to their music hasn’t dimmed his love. Quite the opposite.
“Honestly, I probably listen to the band more now,” he said. “I’ll catch myself listening to bootlegs and live shows, and I really like the newer material, which doesn’t get nearly as much attention as it should. They’re still here, and they’re still making great music.”
To learn more, visit sonicgeography.com.
The Lake Morey Summer Concert Series is back for its sixth season and bigger than ever.
The series has grown exponentially since 2021, partnering with Catamount Arts to bring top-level music to the Fairlee resort. This year boasts a stacked lineup that kicked off in June with Adam Ezra Group.
Looking ahead, reggae artist Shaggy performs this Thursday, July 2, followed by indie rockers Guster on July 9. Larkin Poe, Trampled by Turtles, Collective Soul and Natasha Bedingfield highlight an exciting schedule that runs to the end of August.
To learn more about the series — which is totally free, by the way — hop on over to lakemoreyresort.com.
Colchester producer and artist Jake Demag, who uses the moniker Demagg, has dropped his debut solo song, “Hitting.” The instrumental EDM track serves as an advance single from Demagg’s forthcoming EP, Wet Windows, which he composed, mixed and mastered himself.
Give it a listen at demagg.bandcamp.com.
Who’s ready for some post-punk-psychedelic-indie-garage rock? Winooski’s Ruminations have a lot of arrows in their quiver, but the project, started by guitarist, songwriter and vocalist Greg Bonsignore, manages to synthesize all of them into a fascinating fusion of sounds.
That fusion is front and center on the band’s two new singles, which dropped at the end of June. “Waiting Out the Weather” hews close to angular indie rock but sounds like if Montréal’s the Stills were fronted by Randy Newman. Honestly … count me in. B-side “Pogo and a Rock” hits you with a verse that feels like polka on acid before going into a chorus Syd Barrett would’ve dug.
The singles are streaming at ruminationsmusic.bandcamp.com.
This article appears in July 1 • 2026.
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