The Bad Penny (beta)

Our recent, lively conversation with Slothrust leader Leah Wellbaum ahead of their new album What They Grow in the Garden, resulted in a FLOOD interview and an exclusive bit of news that we ran on this website. But we have another leftover from the articles that might supply you with a good read if you’re in need of one.

The book in question is Milk Fed by Melissa Broder, released in February 2021.

“I am currently re-listening to the book, which I did read cover to cover when it came out,” Wellbaum disclosed. “I wrote a song [‘Beach Seduction’] for another band [Picturebooks] that I feature on based off a different one of her novels called The Pisces, and it’s about a woman who falls in love with a merman. I love when stories have different mediums that interact in [unusual ways].”

[Ed. note: Guillermo del Toro’s film The Shape of Water, and the Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks hit movie Splash, come to mind too.]

“Melissa Broder is one of the first writers who I felt psychologically seen by,” Wellbaum revealed. “She writes a lot about the absurdism of existence and OCD – and never loses her sense of humor. Her writing is just delightful. I love Melissa Broder. and Milk Fed is a really fun read.”

Buy Melissa Broder’s Milk Fed on Goodreads.

And pick up a copy of Slothrust’s sixth album, What They Grow in the Garden – which came out yesterday – on their Bandcamp page.

Press materials for the record describe it as “an examination of the hive mind that explores what it means to be human and live in a system designed to exploit our perceived weaknesses by means of capitalism. The band wanted to explore old archetypal places like ‘the garden’ and ‘the lake’ through an allegorical and surrealist lens that encourages listeners to look inward for their big truths instead of at their phones.”

For more editions of “What You Readin’ For?,” check out:

• What You Readin’ For?: Campfire OK On ‘A Brief History Of Time,’ ‘Illustrated Man’
• What You Readin’ For?: Climber On ‘Moby Dick’
• Crossword puzzle: James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’
• 3 Inches Of Blood’s Cam Pipes Geeks Out On Tolkien, ‘Dungeons & Dragons’
• An Extremely Long Conversation About Extreme Metal With Albert Mudrain
• ‘Burning’ Questions For Brian Peterson: A Conversation About Hardcore Punk And Beyond
• Isis’ Oceanic: Mystery Revealed?
• David Cross’ ‘I Drink For A Reason’: Loaded With Laughs – And Typos

This entry was posted on 09/19/2026 at 12:48 pm and is filed under Features, Interviews, What You Readin' For? with tags Leah Wellbaum, Melissa Broder, Slothrust. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.