THE MILK MEN “Spin The Bottle” (Raw Street Noise).
‘Spin the Bottle’ is The Milkmen’s fourth album, like so many bands the previous album fell foul of the Great Pause as they were unable to tour it, so this album was lavished with time and attention, and the first listen suggests it was time well spent.
‘Driving It’, has a touch of Nazareth and a touch of rock-a-billy and is a great indicator of things to come. ‘Cheap Seats’ is a tongue in cheek take on ZZ Top right down to the groove, the title and the Billy Gibbons growl, although the county line crossed is more likely Greater London than Jefferson. The Milk Men are not a young band and wear their influences proudly, mixing them up in that comfortable area of vaguely familiar and fresh take on favourite sounds. ‘Adelaide’ is a case in point, subtly sounding like a forgotten Who song sung by the love child of Roger Daltrey and Dan McCafferty it is slick and fresh.
‘How Do You Think I Feel’ is cool and sweetly lilting, every note intentional, not so much a ballad as a cry from a grown-up heart. And that is the quality of The Milk Men, they have been around long enough to know what they like, have no use for flash because they have nothing to prove; completely comfortable in their musical skins they produce surefooted class.
‘Sing The Blues’ is smoochy Blues, smooth as melted chocolate, Jamie Smy’s vocals providing the cigarette and whisky rasp to keep it authentic, Adam Norsworthy’s guitar almost underplayed, but sublime. ‘Gabba Gabba Hey’ is a tribute to the Ramones and has every punky, sleazy, poppy nuance you would expect from such, the squawky guitar solo is a triumph.
I fully expect to hear the chorus of ‘Fabulous’ over an advert at some point in the future it is a catchy, Elvis-ish style pop tune circa late sixties early seventies, I defy you not to do a hoppy little dance step while it’s playing!
We move into more Purple, Hendrix territory with ‘Highway Woman’, riffy, punctuated with a Hammond organ (which will endear any song to my heart) and a searing, wah’wy guitar solo, it’s the head banger of the album. And finally, we close out the album with the last of ten tracks, ‘Bad Seed’ darker and more progressive than the rest but again allowing Adam Norsworthy to showcase his versatility.
I reviewed ‘Gold Top’ when it came out in 2018 and felt that The Milk Men were on their way to great things, and despite ‘Deliverance’ getting a bit lost ‘Spin The Bottle’ undoubtedly takes their story a step further. The Milk Men are the real deal, they are a consummately skilled band who clearly love what they are doing, there is not a duff song on this album. It’s money well spent, easy to listen to and will make the commute to work a hell of a lot more fun. British Blues is safe in their hands.
Reviewed by Helen Bradley.
8/10
