Penguin Party profile picture

Penguin Party

"tuneful & charming...quirkyness" - Leonard's Lair

About Me

 "Accessible, spangly songs dealing with everyday matters such as obsession, betrayal and mental illness...."
"..sticky hooks, quirky arrangements and choruses that insist on taking up residence (you’ll be singing these songs in the shower)..like the best pop..governments definitely won’t fall, but sun-drenched drives in the country, with the windows down, will be enhanced"
- Leicester Bangs
"Highly tuneful and charming, with just the right air of quirkiness to rank it as one of the better nostalgically-flavoured records of recent times"
- Leonard's Lair
"A cool, engaging release – it has a hypnotic quality that pulls you in. Milligan is not playing it safe with his pop inspirations with his healthy love of early Squeeze, Nick Lowe and Martin Newell, it’s a distinctively British take on pop craftmenship but it works extremely well.. "
- Not Lame
"Very catchy, very charming..The rootsy "..Grandma's" is a Kinks & Nick Lowe-inspired sing-along! The chirpy and jangly "She Smells" is another "Argybargy" influenced song! The vocal interplay throughout recalls the Difford/Tillbrook dynamic of Squeeze. EXCELLENT!!!"
- Kool Kat Musik
...very English nostalgic music hall pop...a compelling listen...reminds me of Andy Partridge...the best fun here is pub anthem "Goin' Back To Grandma's" with the hummable chorus and foot stompin' beat...a lot of subtle shifts in mood and genre...charming pop that will sit well with ye merry anglophile power pop fans
-Powerpopaholic.com
“like skimming across a pretty little pond on a sunny day in an old fashioned rowing boat, dangling your fingers in the water and unexpectedly having one of them bitten off by something just below the surface”
Milligan played in Reno & Rome (an early incarnation of NME favourites Animals That Swim) and in the 90s was one third of criminally under-exposed Pomp/Industrial nearly-men "Introversion". He's been in arco since its inception, co-producing and playing on their three albums (including a US-only rarities compilation), which are available on labels based in the UK, US and Korea. Penguin Party is an outlet for Milligan's songs which don't fit arco's gorgeous introspective sound.
I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)
YOU CAN BUY THE ALBUM "SEE THRU SONGS" by PENGUIN PARTY ON CD FROM THE FOLLOWING EXCELLENT STOCKISTS:
UK: Norman Records
US: Not Lame
US: CD Baby
OR YOU CAN BUY PENGUIN PARTY MP3s DIRECT FROM US HERE:
Download the whole album SEE THRU SONGS for just £3 all 11 songs - 2 songs FREE!
OR download individual songs for just £0.30 each: Beaten, Black & Blue (written by Danny Scott) Elephants' Graveyard (Written by Dave Milligan): Goin' Back To Grandma's (Written by Dave Milligan): Here Be The Chorus (Written by Dave Milligan): Lullaby (Written By Chris Healey Mirrorball (Written by Dave Milligan): Someone Else's Turn (Written by Dave Milligan): United State Of Grace (Written by Dave Milligan and Gareth Hall): Before I Go away (Written by Dave Milligan: She Smells (Written by Dave Milligan): I'm Ready For My Closeup, MrDemille (Written by Dave Milligan):or you can get it on iTunes, but we don't get to keep as much of your cash!

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 10/3/2005
Band Website: reverbnation.com/penguinparty
Band Members: Dave Milligan - vocals, guitars, basses, drums, keys, etc,etcAlso featured: Gareth Hall - Bass, Guitar, Beats and Drones on USofG. Bass on Someone Else's Turn Tudor Davies - Hammond and Moog on Someone Else's Turn Chris Healey - Harmonica on She Smells Danny Scott - treated Acoustic Guitar on Beaten, Black & Blue Matt Tassell - Acoustic guitar on She Smells Maddie Milligan - Backing vocals on Goin' Back To Grandma'sAll songs written and produced by Dave Milligan except Lullaby which was written by Chris Healey: Beaten, Black & Blue which was written by Danny Scott: and United State of Grace which was written by Dave Milligan & Gareth HallThanks to: Vanessa for love and support Jake Milligan for making me raise my game Maddie Milligan for actually liking the songs and knowing the words Jean & Arthur Milligan for encouragement and freedom Chris Healey (the greatest songwriter of his generation) for painfully constructive criticism and boundless musical and technical knowledge Robin Jennings (The Norton Sisters) & Andy Boulanger for early opportunities, Paul Milligan (Skint / The Heaters) for inspiring me to play in the first place, Steevi Bacon, Tim Steward & Chris Price (Plug-In-Drug), Mole, Andy Low (Thanks for the 4040) & Carl Roper (first band), Monroe, Dave McGrath, Alan Kenning, Alan Reed (for the drunken props), Gareth Hall (ditto), Ian Turner & Danny Scott (Heads Full Of Noise / Introversion) songwriting geniuses, Annie Gardiner (for beaming at me during my more abandoned guitar playing moments), The Late Great Wayne Barrett, Nick Healey, Graham Darnell, Tudor Davies, Tracy Lee Jackson (for getting behind Arco and really trying for us), Neil Alcock & Nicola Harrison for Kissy Suzuki and Sitting Target, all the Arco fans and everybody who came to DavestockThese songs have been a long time coming. Couldn't have done it without you lot. Thanks for listening.XXX
Influences: beck,thomas dolby,fun boy three,amy winehouse,apples in stereo,b-52s,basement jaxx,beloved,beta band,big audio dynamite,b.a.d.,billy bragg,blondie,blur,bob mould,sugar,husker du,breeders,brendan benson,brian wilson,buzzcocks,carpenters,chemical brothers,the clash,cornershop,crowded house,dandy warhols,dave clark five,david byrne,xtc,talking heads,slade,death cab for cutie,decemberists,depeche mode,deus,doobie brothers,doves,dreadzone,dubstar,eels,elastica,moloko,electr ic six,elliot smith,elvis costello,electronic,erin mckeown,the faces,family cat,feeder,the feeling,franz ferdinand,gastr del sol,geneva,george harrison,paul mccartney,beatles,gomez,graham coxon,grandaddy,the happiness factor,the hives,hyoka,jah wobble,pil,the jam,james taylor,jellyfish,jesus jones,joan osbourne,joe strummer,john frusciante,john otway,jonathan richman and the modern lovers,joy division,new order,julian cope,kaiser chiefs,kings of leon,kinks,the la's,lambchop,levellers,the lilac time,lily allen,low,arco,tram,lush,the magic numbers,marc bolan,mc honky,mc5,mercury rev,the milk and honey band,the monkees,morphine,morrissey,motocompo,mud,new york dolls,nitzer ebb,orange juice,the ordinary boys,orson,peter sellers,pixies,the police,the polyphonic spree,pop will eat itself,prince,the prodigy,queen,racey,radiohead,the ramones,the real tuesday weld,red hot chilli peppers,robbie williams,robyn hitchcock,rockingbirds,ron sexsmith,ronettes,ronnie lane's slim chance,salim nourallah,nourallah brothers,scritti politti,senpai,sex pistols,pete shelley,sin ropas,sleeper,the smiths,the soft boys,sophie ellis bextor,space,sparks,specials,spongetones,squeeze,stephen duffy,the streets,the strokes,suede,supergrass,sweet,syd barrett,talk talk,teardrop explodes,tears for fears,teenage fanclub,television,the the,they might be giants,thomas dolby,timonium,traffic,transvision vamp,travelling willburys,travis,trembling blue stars,undertones,wannadies,wedding present,weezer,whale,the who,wizzard,yo la tengo,10cc,76 charger
Sounds Like: beck,thomas dolby,fun boy three,amy winehouse,apples in stereo,b-52s,basement jaxx,beloved,beta band,big audio dynamite,b.a.d.,billy bragg,blondie,blur,bob mould,sugar,husker du,breeders,brendan benson,brian wilson,buzzcocks,carpenters,chemical brothers,the clash,cornershop,crowded house,dandy warhols,dave clark five,david byrne,xtc,talking heads,slade,death cab for cutie,decemberists,depeche mode,deus,doobie brothers,doves,dreadzone,dubstar,eels,elastica,moloko,electr ic six,elliot smith,elvis costello,electronic,erin mckeown,the faces,family cat,feeder,the feeling,franz ferdinand,gastr del sol,geneva,george harrison,paul mccartney,beatles,gomez,graham coxon,grandaddy,the happiness factor,the hives,hyoka,jah wobble,pil,the jam,james taylor,jellyfish,jesus jones,joan osbourne,joe strummer,john frusciante,john otway,jonathan richman and the modern lovers,joy division,new order,julian cope,kaiser chiefs,kings of leon,kinks,the la's,lambchop,levellers,the lilac time,lily allen,low,arco,tram,lush,the magic numbers,marc bolan,mc honky,mc5,mercury rev,the milk and honey band,the monkees,morphine,morrissey,motocompo,mud,new york dolls,nitzer ebb,orange juice,the ordinary boys,orson,peter sellers,pixies,the police,the polyphonic spree,pop will eat itself,prince,the prodigy,queen,racey,radiohead,the ramones,the real tuesday weld,red hot chilli peppers,robbie williams,robyn hitchcock,rockingbirds,ron sexsmith,ronettes,ronnie lane's slim chance,salim nourallah,nourallah brothers,scritti politti,senpai,sex pistols,pete shelley,sin ropas,sleeper,the smiths,the soft boys,sophie ellis bextor,space,sparks,specials,spongetones,squeeze,stephen duffy,the streets,the strokes,suede,supergrass,sweet,syd barrett,talk talk,teardrop explodes,tears for fears,teenage fanclub,television,the the,they might be giants,thomas dolby,timonium,traffic,transvision vamp,travelling willburys,travis,trembling blue stars,undertones,wannadies,wedding present,weezer,whale,the who,wizzard,yo la tengo,10cc,76 charger
Record Label: Sitting Target: www.sittingtarget.net
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

"youll be singing this in the shower"

This from LEICESTER BANGSPenguin Party - See Thru Songs (Sitting Target)With an unmistakable 'out-of-its-time' production and songs which bring to mind classic Nick Lowe and Squeeze, See Thru Songs is...
Posted by Penguin Party on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:32:00 PST

A review from Powerpopaholic.com

From http://www.powerpopaholic.com/ Penguin Party "See Thru Songs" Dave Milligan's solo project Penguin Party is sure to appeal to fans of Martin Newell, with it's very English nostalgic music ha...
Posted by Penguin Party on Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:47:00 PST

Another lovely review!

This one from Koolkatmusik.com: Very catchy, very charming, and very extremely British effort from Dave Milligan who is also a member of Arco, a band whose brand of quiet, melancholic rock has th...
Posted by Penguin Party on Wed, 14 May 2008 04:30:00 PST

A New Review!

 From Notlame.com: What cool, engaging release  but for the reasons most albums hit me well 'n good! This one is not a rocker, not particularly sprightly and light-in-the-toes, but it has a hypn...
Posted by Penguin Party on Wed, 14 May 2008 03:06:00 PST

OUR FIRST REVIEW!

THE REVIEW FLOODS IN! Our first review, from the excellent Leonard's Lair Review: Penguin Party - See Thru Songs Published April 13. 2008 http://leonardslair.wordpress.com/ About a month ago I got...
Posted by Penguin Party on Sun, 13 Apr 2008 02:45:00 PST

ON THE RADIO, FRIDAY 4th APRIL

Hey guys,One of our Penguin Party tracks is being played on BBC Essex this friday (4th April).The show is closely linked in with Radio One: For more info on Introducing across the BBC, the i...
Posted by Penguin Party on Thu, 03 Apr 2008 06:42:00 PST

Penguin Party album available now on CD from:

The new Penguin Party album, See Thru Songs, is available on Sitting Target CD from the following fabulous stockists:in the US: www.notlame.com or www.cdbaby.comin the UK: www.normanrecords.coman...
Posted by Penguin Party on Wed, 12 Mar 2008 03:57:00 PST

The CDs are ready!

The "See Thru Songs" CDs (On Sitting Target) are back from the factory and they're gorgeous! Our MySpace friends can buy them for a mates-rates only price of just £5 plus postage.  Let us know if...
Posted by Penguin Party on Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:33:00 PST

THE ALBUM’S READY! GET IT NOW! (please!)

..> THE ALBUM'S FINISHED AND MASTERED!! The new Penguin Party album See Thru Songs is finished and mastered!You can download the whole thing from our myspace page for just £4.50, or you can buy th...
Posted by Penguin Party on Mon, 25 Feb 2008 05:51:00 PST