Labels: Fortuna Pop!
Review by: MH
Here’s a story for you. In about 1989 when I was first getting into music and realised there was more than just Top of the Pops in in this world, I started buying music for the first time. One of the very first things I ever bought was a Creation Records compilation tape called “Doing It For The Kids” – it was probably in the first five or six things I ever bought. This was back in the days when tapes cost about the same to buy as records. Something like £5.49 for an LP or £4.99 for a tape. I have a feeling this tape was sold at a cheap price though and I’m pretty sure I bought it at Record House in Amersham. On that tape were a bunch of bands including The Jasmine Minks, The House of Love, MBV, Momus, Primal Scream (when they were more of a scratchy indie pop outfit) and a band called The Weather Prophets with a song called “Well Done Sonny”. The reason I am telling you all this is that Pete Astor was the singer in The Weather Prophets. I liked that track on that tape but never heard anything else by them. I also hadn’t listened to the tape in about twenty years until this came in last week and that prompted me to stick it on again.
The music on “Spilt Milk” is indie pop – it’s pretty clean with a nice jangly guitar sound and Pete’s vocals sound pretty smooth these days. He’s also got a band in tow – a lot of the instruments were played by James Hoare of Veronica Falls and Ultimate Painting. The lyrics are pretty grown-up and you’ll probably get that if you’ve been making music as long as this guy (30-odd years by my reckoning) – there is talk of farmers markets, gardens and not fixing a broken fence within a few of the songs. It’s a nice listen and the highlight for me is the restrained and melancholy “Perfect Life” – the guitar sound on this track is so nice.
There’s been a few albums come in lately that this fits in well with and I’d say that if you liked the recent releases from Model Village, The Hermit Crabs and Strawberry Whiplash then this is another one of that ilk that you’ll be wanting to hear.