Milemarker

Milemarker are an indie rock group originally formed in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. A longtime part of the Chapel Hill and Chicago underground music scenes, Milemarker have slowly gained in popularity for their eclectic stylings and unique sound, which has shifted from an experimental electronic format to heavier alternative rock in recent years. Their 2005 US tour after the release of Ominosity featured heavy drums following winding guitars and vocals alternating from contemplative and narrative to shrieking and visceral.
Milemarker often use word play and ironic lyrics in their songs. Examples include “Frigid Forms Sell You Warmth” (“there’s a product line attached to every form of suicide”) and “A Quick Trip to the Clinic” (“died of pneumonia that I got on the walk to get my flu shot”), both from 2000’s Frigid Forms Sell; “From Russia With Love” (“everybody needs a good Red Scare”) from 1999’s Changing Caring Humans; and “Virtual Sex” (“it’s not too personal to get personable with the personnel”) from 2005’s Ominosity. The title of the band’s sixth full-length album, Satanic Versus, is itself a play on “Satanic Verses”. Milemarker also often employ a satirical or introspective slant toward social issues such as materialism (“Frigid Forms Sell You Warmth”, “A Quick Trip to the Clinic”, “Shrink To Fit”), technology (“Internet Relay Chat with the Central Intelligence Agency”, “Server Error”, “Ant Architect”, “Virtual Sex”), and even women’s roles (“Food For Worms”), and have also referenced Orwellian (“New Lexicon”) and apocalyptic (“Tundra”, “Sun Out”) themes.