THE MILK MEN are renowned across the British Isles for their exhilarating live shows and their contemporary, clenched ‘n’ sinewy interpretations of classic blues-rock sounds.
The Milk Men are: Adam Norsworthy on guitar, Jamie Smy on vocals, Lloyd Green on bass guitar, and Mike Roberts on drums.
Their latest, and fifth, album, “Holy Cow!” is due this Friday, 3rd May 2024.
This is the band you’ve been looking for if you have always enjoyed the choppy guitar shapes that were skillfully carved by Wilko Johnson, or the melodic clunk of the Count Bishops, or the revivalist vibe created by Mike Vernon’s Rocky Sharpe and the Razors, but you weren’t able to attend the Lord Nelson pub in the midst of the smoky 1970s pub-rock heydays because you were too young!
recreates a night at the Crawdaddy Club of the Yardbirds’ era…
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However, a few of the tracks on “Holy Cow!” go even further back into the earliest days of British rhythm and blues. For instance, ‘Easy Touch‘ recreates a night at the Crawdaddy Club of the Yardbirds’ fame. This is a beat-pop R&B song with a distinct Slade flavoured stomp that sounds as if it emerged during the golden age of rock ‘n’ roll, and comes packed with a clever guitar solo —in the vein of Dave Hill— and a glam/hard rock riff that is more solid than a length of tarmac!
‘Give A Little Love‘ is an elastic funkathon of fun with nuanced bubbles of guitar, and a fruity riff that zippers and gambols all the way through!
And ‘Wild Girls‘ is a high-stepping, go-go boots kicking, funtrip reminiscent of the sounds you might have heard at the 2i’s Coffee Bar in between stage performances by Johnny Kidd and The Vipers!
While ‘Bad News Blues‘ is a thrumming Quoesque boogie jam with clear-cut vocals from Jamie, and the neatest of rhythms from Mike and Lloyd.
The song “Don’t Trust My Life” brings a confined windowless environment with freshly foaming bass notes, gloomy vocals, introverted lyrics, and even a mournful guitar that sounds like it’s been wrapped-in on itself. It’s as though these musicians were shrouded in a cloak of longing when they came up with the concept. This composition, with deft use of crumpling and grumpiness, is truly outstanding.
The Milk Men, with their old-spice attitude, their Austin Allegro optics, and with their neatly condensed rhythmic smartness, sawdust vocals, and corroded bedspring bass-notes, are happily anachronistic, harking back to a time when the British rhythm and blues, with its thunderclap energy, finessed riffs, and characterful compositions, would go on to conquer the world!
Get the album here: https://www.themilkmenmusic.com/uk-merchandise.html
Words: © Neil Mach
Photo Credit: © Rob Blackham
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