A 1972 three piece band called Milkwood made one acoustic album which sank without trace although that band made amends by becoming the highly successful soft-rockers The Cars.
The 21st century Milkwood are another three piece but a different kettle of fish entirely. This trio are 20 something South Londoners who draw their influences from sixties and seventies American and British folk citing Fairport Convention, Bert Jansch and Neil Young among their prime influences.
They have previously recorded a 6 track EP but this is their first full length album, self recorded and independently released complete with a beautifully designed sleeve pack by Miranda Iossifidis.
With the lo-fi production they make a virtue out of necessity although at times the tunes have such a hushed quality I wonder if , like the wife in Dylan Thomas' Under Milkwood, they were worried of upsetting the neighbours as they recorded.
The quiet tones on most of the ten tracks are suggestive of gentle lullabies but the words are anything but comforting. On Five Stories ,for instance, a lilting ode to a sickly green-eyed child somehow morphs into the tale of a man who gets stoned and falls the five stories of the title after mistaking the sky for the ground!
|
Falling is something of a motif as the first line of the opening track (The Passenger) is "I fell out of my car" These idiosyncratic lyrics combine with delicate English-style folk melodies to great effect and the quietly eccentric mood is helped by a range of interesting instrumentation like organ, e-bowed bass, melodica and violin. If the songs have a slightly disconcerting quality , this is softened by the soothing voice of Truly Johnson.
The air of restraint is at times a little stifling to the point that the loose instrumental jam on the closing track (Berlin) comes as something of a relief. The catchiness of a tune like Maggy shows that the young band have the ability to switch the mood effortlessly and a few more variations of this kind would have made for a more striking record.
Still, there is no question that this is an assured and highly promising debut LP which I would warmly recommend.
You can buy a copy of this album from : http://milkwoodband.blogspot.com/
|
