*** The Dead Milkmen

DEATH RIDES A PALE COW

(Restless)

Much as you might like to dismiss the Dead Milkmen as nothing more than the '80s novelty act best known for "Bitchin' Camaro," the Philly quartet's best-of collection is a reminder that the group's appeal was based on their smart, well-targeted, satirical oomph. Few groups are spared the cleverly caustic examinations of Rodney Anonymous's lyrical attack on Death Rides a Pale Cow. Throughout a decade-long career, the Milkmen skewered social stereotypes with egalitarian scope and juvenile sarcasm -- punks and hippies, yuppies and beats, liberals and conservatives, club kids and white trash. If the group were always snotty and obnoxious, they were usually dead on target in their mocking, and their bright, clean guitar sounds and frantic rhythms played with punk convention as neatly as the scattershot commentary. You'll find no sacred cows on this collection.

-- Mark Woodlief