Iconoclast Rick Millisci Urges Us: “Go to California, Be a Freak, Like Kylie”

Right, so this is one that I debated posting for a good minute or two. If you listen, you’ll see why: this is about as bare bones and unpolished as a track gets. It’s often off-key, the subject matter is totally weird and, on top of that, it got submitted to us through some weird-ass service that we never use.

But, Austin has an admirable and strong, if a little voyeuristic, tradition of accepting so called “outsider art” if it’s done authentically, and (perhaps more so) if it’s catchy.

Somehow, through its ultra-minimal drumming, its guitar that’s picked one twangy string after another (and sometimes slightly out of time), and its totally weird vocals about a young reality star, this strange tune by Rick Milisci, obviously a guy a bit older than his subject, on the subject of Kylie Jenner is both authentic and catchy. Somehow, it’s also charming, not creepy, and pretty on the ball when it comes to having an up-to-date look at pop culture. Which, I’ll admit, are not really things we thought I’d think about it when I first clicked it on.

I think what really does it for this song is that, despite not having a lot of production polish, it does have a solid song structure and vision, and it really goes for it. Rick knows what he wants to say, and he can put a song’s parts together, even if they sound a little janky. It comes together in a way that’ll catch your ear and get you talking, whether it’s to say you hate it or, like us at The Deli, to come around and admit that this weird little ditty kinda gets under your skin. Hell, I just took a break writing this to grab some food, and I caught myself singing “Kylieeee Jennner, Kylieeee Jennner” under my breath on the way to the spot. I’m about to meet up with my brother for Christmas, and I’m pretty sure this song just rocketed to the top of the list of shit I want to show him, weird as that might be.

In all, while this isn’t our typical fare at The Deli, this is Austin. Since this is the town that claims Daniel Johnston as one of its own, and since, really, we should each be giving all art a chance if it comes from a place of authentic expression and creativity, here we are presenting you the far, far from leftfield “Kylie Jenner,” a bare-bones, off-kilter, endearing and bizarrely fun commentary on pop culture by one Rick Milisci.

Oh, and if you want to know who the hell this dude is, like we did, pretty much all we can find about him is that his “Biography” on the site he submitted to us says “Smile :),” he calls this song in particular a “Cool Surf Song about Pop Culture in 2015,” for some reason CD Baby says you’d like him if you like Flo Rida, and he has 356 songs on Myspace.

Yep. 356. One of them is named “Zookeeper Licks Monkey’s Butt.” There’s another called “Sandwiches are Beautiful.” So there’s that. Get on this weird train y’all. If nothing else, it sure is interesting.