In the heart of the grunge homeland, the great Pacific Northwest, grunge ain’t dead – it’s just evolved. Olympia, Washington’s Milk Music released its debut full-length album, Cruise Your Illusion, on April 2 and with it has channeled the Ghost of Northwest Grunge Past (along with a few others genre ghosts, actually). Up until this album, the band self-released vinyl records and cassettes in order to stay in control of the music, but with Cruise Your Illusion they changed its M.O. and signed up with Fat Possom Records While the 2011 Milk Men, the ones who claimed that no one needs a record label, might initially hate their 2013 selves for this (I’m speculating here), they’ve definitely done themselves a favor.

Without the distraction of self-production or self-promotion, Milk Music was able to focus solely on its sound and did so with glowing success. The simple country punks they used to be have been replaced by a more confident group who’s unified seemingly far-ranging influences from classic rock to grunge to punk to country. Milk Music’s days of fuzzy production to accompany their loud vibe are over and we’re all the better for it.

Cruise Your Illusion opens with the short (less than two minutes) instrumental song, “Caged Dogs Run Wild,” that definitely feels like a warm welcome to a clean and diverse album. It introduces us to the mixed bag of sound that we’ll come to know in the following 40 or so minutes that Create Your Illusion takes up.  From there, we get led seamlessly into “Illegal and Free,” a track where Alex Coxen’s warbling vocals meet up with the rest of the band’s  wonderfully bombastic guitar jams, determined bass and driving drum beats.

Throughout the album there’s a frequent, and occasionally jarring, oscillation of song dynamics between heavy and weighted tracks like “Cruising with God” and the more pop infused ones like “Crosstown Wanderer.” These contrary juxtapositions, however, don’t feel unfocused or choppy, but rather help create an album that’ll keep you on your toes until the end.  Create Your Illusion makes no pretentions about what it is or what it’s trying to be. It’s a perfect synthesis of the band’s influences, while adding enough individuality and distinguishable personality as to not just be a nostalgic rehashing of 1980s alternative,1990s grunge and 2000s simply indie.

Create Your Illusion is available online here and on iTunes. You can also check out Milk Music’s upcoming tour dates on the official website.