Pawing The Milk Maid

Here are two linked acts that are prepping amazing releases through Fat Cat Records this year.


First up is another slacker rock album that owes as much to the 90s psych movement of the Dandy Warhols/Brian Jonestown Massacre era as it does to fellow revivalists like Yuck. Milk Maid are from Manchester (chief songwriter Martin Cohen used to be in the pretty rad Nine Black Alps) and Mostly No (their second after releasing Yucca only last year) is an album chock full of jangly guitar ramble and chunky guitar drive. I love me a guitar album. Yet I still think that due to trying to find that balance between the jangle and the crunch, the trio straddles both without embracing either, so things aren't as strong as they could be. It's not that I struggle with isn't that the trio aren't good - Mostly No is a pretty delectable album - it's that their name is too close to Milk Music, the Washington band that are one of the best things going around right now. So when I forget, or get confused, and hit up Milk Maid instead of Milk Music, I'm invariably disappointed. This isn't the band's fault of course, and Mostly No is an album that makes an impression, then falters, before winning you over in the end ('Do Right' and 'Bad Luck' are pretty killer). Let's hope the next one works harder to rock all the way through.




Much more upbeat are PAWS, a Glasgow based trio that dish out scuzzy garage fuzz with little regard for their own safety. They brought out their debut EP Misled Youth (in cassette form) back in May, and are quickly backing that up with their Jellyfish/Bloodline 7" (which rings of early Japanadroids, especially the A-side) in preparation for their upcoming LP Cokefloat! (which has been recorded and produced by Warm Brains' uber-producer Rory Attwell). I have to say that I'm a big fan - these two quickly constructed releases (everything except for 'Bainz' - my favourite - was written and recorded in under a week) allude to a world of promise.

PAWS - Misled Youth



You can grab all of these releases on the FatCat website here.

Dripping Colours Provide The Haze

All the way back in January 2010, just before Sonic Masala threw down its first entry into the blue yonder, I went to a show in London at The Lexington. The headliner - Real Estate. As many people may know by now, I found that set so fucking boring that I refused to watch it all, walked downstairs to drink whisky on my own. Support #1 - Yuck. Before the self-titled album and shedloads of acclaim. Again, I thought they were boring. Support #2 - Colours. Now THESE guys push my buttons in the right way. They nailed the 90s slacker/80s Pixies amalgam that night, something that Yuck would warm to in later months and Real Estate - well, they are Real Estate, they do what they do, perfect for a mid afternoon snooze.

Since then they have put a track out through Art Is Hard Records, but I kinda lost touch with what they were up to. Then a little while ago they founded Marshall Teller Records and put out a four way split that included Gross Magic and Echo Lake that was pretty sweet (sorry that i didn't post about that guys!! It was worthy though). They have also had a hand in bring to our ears the fairly great Total Slacker (who we do really like, and their 'Psychic Mesa' track made out hot singles of last year), Warm Brains, Weird Dreams and Dignan Porch.

Recorded by Warm Brains' Rory Attwell, Colours have a new 7" out. Its fucking sweet! Even sweeter is the launch at the Shacklewell Arms on March 2nd alongside SM faves Sex Beet as well as Dignan Porch and Yrrs.

Pre-order the Drip Haze 7" here.

Colours - Drip Haze

Return Not So Yucky

2011 has been a Yucky year. The quintet from London have really come into their own, dominating most festival stages, being at the pinnacle of the hip as fuck blogosphere intelligentsia, and raping the slacker rock songbook writ large.

As you can see from the above, I don't have the biggest love.

It stems from the only time I have seen them play, as a support for another massive band that I don't "get", Real Estate, back in January last year. Real Estate I found to be incredibly boring - I spent most of their set standing at the downstairs bar at the Lexington drinking Jagerbombs and talking shit to my sister and some other person to this day I cannot remember. Yuck and Colours supported, and whilst both acts exploited the Pavement MO, it was actually Colours who came away with the most points in my opinion that night.

Yet the release of Yuck has gone gangbusters for the Londoners, and although im happy for them, I haven't really given them the time of day (except for Mogwai's ace remix of 'Rubber'...). It seemed that they filled out the right questionnaire or application form, for, like Colours, there seemed to be many bands mining the 90s penchant for noodling guitars and haphazard pop hooks yet they remained on the periphery, whilst Yuck conquered the US and jammed with Jools.

Now Fat Possum is re-releasing Yuck as a double LP stacked with B-sdies and rarities. The editor at Time Off magazine in Brisbane implored me to listen, to be more forgiving (as he has seen millions of bands on many different continents, it kills him to know that he hasn't seen Yuck, an employee has, and said employee slags off his favourite new band on regular intervals).

TRACKLISTING

Get Away
The Wall
Shook Down
Holing Out
Suicide Policeman
Georgia
Suck
Stutter
Operation
Sunday
Rose Gives a Lily
Rubber
Milkshake (previously available on limited vinyl only, streamed digitally)
The Base of a Dream is Empty (vinyl and digital B-Side to Rubber)
Cousin Corona (iTunes bonus)
Soothe Me (brand new)
Coconut Bible (B-side to Holing Out)
Doctors In My Bed (vinyl B-side to Get Away, only streamed digitally)

So I have. And it's...pretty good. Im not changing my tune too much - I really don't get hooked on these tracks at all enough to spin the record on frequent occasions - but it's ok. Right place, right time perhaps? 2012 will tell...

Below are two of those "new" cuts. Believe me, there is substance here. 'Soothe Me' has seen a lot of press due to the blatant Kevin Shields stealing, but who doesn't in this day and age? It is also a sound that is stolen precisely because its a style that can go with almost any other genre, and its cool as fuck. And it probably isnt their fault that they have been lauded so hard. AND, as seen by my intermittent Real Estate posts, I will give bands a second chance if it's deemed warranted. And on the strength of these two tracks alone, I may still be bemused at the level of hype and adulation, but it has me soothing the previously held rage. These kids seem ok. Bring on LP #2.





Before the band retreat into the studio however, they are slamming the UK in one final jaunt - although the London show is already sold out (again, THAT confuses me...)



UPCOMING LIVE DATES

November
14 – Rescue Rooms, Nottingham
15 – Academy 3, Manchester
16 – Leadmill, Sheffield
18 – Academy 2, Newcastle
19 – Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh
20 – King Tuts, Glasgow
21 – 53 Degrees, Preston
22 – Wedgwood Rooms, Portsmouth
23 – Waterfront, Norwich
24 – Electric Ballroom, London
26 – The Button Factory, Dublin
27 – Speakeasy Bar, Belfast