Milburn: Well Well Well
Well Well Well is the debut album from Sheffielders Milburn
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Tuesday, 10, Oct 2006 12:25
Mercury Records, out now.
In a nutshell…
Rough, enthusiastic, contagious ska knees-up
What's it all about?
The debut album from Sheffielders Milburn. Twelve tracks setting out tales of Sheffield teenage dramas with bit of the Jam here, a touch of the Specials there.
They apparently inspired the Arctic Monkeys to ask for guitars for Christmas a few years back and the shared inspiration and content are quite obvious.
Early copies of Well Well Well come with four bonus tracks including the brilliant Brewster featuring Billy Bragg.
Who's it by
Milburn, four lads just getting out their teens from Sheffield - brothers Joe and Louis Carnall with mates Tom Rowley and Joe Green – have been playing together for six years in their nan's loft and for gigs in front of mates. Time well spent, although they've got some A-levels just in case.
Milburn are also not a tribute to former health minister and Darlington MP Alan, but named after a mate for a bet.
As an example…
"When you want you know you can be as good as gold. But try telling that to the bloke who owns the phone that you've just stole." – What About Next Time
"All I wanted was a kiss. All I wanted was a chance tonight." – What You Could've Won
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys
The Arctic Monkeys, inspired to get started by Milburn, won a Mercury. A lot of people claim Milburn are better. Most likely the award would be for winning the egg-and-spoon race.
What the others say
"Rawness adds an authenticity to the scuffles of Send in the Boys, while [Joe Carnall] is soft, but never sloppy." - The Guardian
"Milburn don't just share their home city Sheffield with the Arctic Monkeys; they've also borrowed their sound…as original as a school covers band." - The Star
So is it any good?
There are some really corking tracks on Well Well Well. It opens with banging guitars straight from London Calling, hops into ska and Carnall Junior tells us "Well well well look just what the cat dragged in."
They stick their colours to the mast early and stand by it, rumbling and jumping through 12 tracks and ending up on a pub sing-a-long with Roll Out The Barrel.
Along the way they threaten to Send In The Boys, show us a Cheshire Cat Smile, but you get the feeling that this is a Storm In A Teacup.
Showroom tells us about the local poser, What About Next Time? introduces the scally, Stockholm Syndrome takes a swipe at Big Brother and in Brewster we come across Davy who's just like 'is dad, that is he drinks and fights and isn't nice to his ma. There are a couple of end-of-the-night songs when too much has been imbibed
Milburn's strengths lie in playing live and they have managed to transfer it well to the album, keeping all the energy and catchy enthusiasm, plus Carnall has a certain earnestness in his voice that brings the tales to life.
It is inevitable that Milburn will draw comparisons with the Arctic Monkeys. Critics could fairly claim that Milburn are riding on the coat tails of their fellow Sheffielders. This criticism gets a bit stronger as while they are not quite Arctic sound-a-likes they do have more than a passing resemblance.
What Milburn lack is the quality of AM's lyrics. Musically they are strong, but it is the words that let them down, it is if they have spent too long in their Nan's loft practising and not enough getting about except to go down the pub.
The album hops along contagiously with a few good tracks, but in the end it doesn't stay with you after the party. It's good while it lasts.
7/10
Daniel Barnes