As MTSU’s latest batch of musicians reinvigorates Murfreesboro’s local production and house show scene, their live show lineups, somewhat segregated by genre between ’Boro venues, The Laundry Room and Crossroads Punk House (cXr), will intermingle to create full lineups at venues elsewhere in the area, such as the KUC theater on campus or DRKMTTR in Nashville. Consequently, these mingles are forming an area artist collective between the niche punk/hardcore acts and the indie-pop bangers, whether they like it or not. Deep within this revamped, local and entropic scene resurgence is a neat little indie quintet called Juliet’s Apartment. They’ll play with local glitch-punk trio Circuit Circuit from time to time. Juliet’s Apartment guitarist/co-lyricist Parker Milley, meanwhile, decided to go rogue for an even more independent project.
Milley has released an EP, Love Like Stains on Shirts – 2021 Demos, as well as other tracks, under the project name Collegetown, combining early Modest Mouse’s Northwest cellar disposition with an emphasis on Mouse frontman Isaac Brock’s vocal stylings and Violent Femmes’ in-studio looseness of signature string-bangs and clunk; all recorded with Liam Lynch’s indie-garage production finesse.
This compilation of demo recordings was teased by a pair of singles released a few days prior to the EP, with “Bigfoot Warlock (Wanna Be Wizard),” released Dec. 10, 2021 as an improvised-sounding handheld garage-rock recording of a few buddies at the crib, high as hell and having a ball, while the more lyric-centered “A Lament (In a Sense)” was released Dec. 11; this one made it onto the EP.
The collection kicks off with a loose, Violent Femmes-style acoustic clunker, “Universe 1: Parker 0,” delving into Collegetown’s “green-ness,” noticeable in the recycling of a verse from “A Lament (In a Sense)” for the first track’s introductory chorus. Lyrics for “Universe 1: Parker 0,” murmurs about humility encountered while navigating early adulthood, while The Lonesome Crowded West-era Modest Mouse-influenced “A Lament (In a Sense)” covers the fog of being stoned, thwarting plans with his girl and then not being able to pen the lyrically motivating guilt. It’s a solid shared line.
The droning “Rest Stop No. 35” stands as the album’s most “Modest,” as the lyrics ramble random thoughts.
The pop/skate punker “French Cinema” takes off like an anticipated drive to Cali, with even more alliterative wordplay apathetically advancing authoritative and astute advice about auteurs. The bridge gets choppy.
“Gen Z Indie Rock Anthem” taps into the Violent Femmes’ musicality, too, combining a Gordon Gano-like layering of several guitar tracks with enough effects to fuzz-muddle a lyric that, seemingly, tackles the butterflies and initial jealousies of crush love. Consistent melodic picking is the only thing that keeps “Gen Z . . .” together.
Ultimately, “Tony Hawk Flies South for the Winter” is the Collegetown EP’s masterpiece, utilizing the beautiful simplicity and discipline of a slow-strummed acoustic guitar, bowed cello and light tambourine, accompanying the most self-aware lyric yet—about the steps in life that most people took—while slyly morphing into a low-fi punker that could date back to Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks-period Mouse.
Collegetown’s Love Like Stains on Shirts – 2021 Demos is available at collegetown.bandcamp.com, iheart.com and amazon.com. Parker Milley wrote and performed all tracks solo at home. Further Collegetown and Juliet’s Apartment updates can be found on Instagram @parker.milley. “Bigfoot Warlock (Wanna Be Wizard)” is not on Love Like Stains on Shirts, but is currently available for purchase on Collegetown’s Bandcamp site for $420 (when free-streaming online just doesn’t do the trick).
