Yo, whats happening? Yeah, dude, you hearin these purry cats, The Milk? You mean those US boyz who got that soul groove thang B-Roads goin on? Right on, but they aint no Yankee boyz, bro theyz from ESS-EX, UK!
Whether you like your milk full fat or semi-skimmed, The Milk are the taste of the day. The four-piece Southend/ Chelmsford crew follow up their debut single (All I Wanted Was) Danger with the Brad Baloo (of hip-hop team The Nextmen) produced B-Roads. Picking up kudos from the likes of Zane Lowe, Mistajam and Huey Morgan on 6 Music, you can feel the early Motown/ Stax/ Trojan inspiration and influence in this soul-funk vibed track.
Opening on siren wails, B-Roads has all the makings of a hip-hop scratch, yet it then turns about and delves headlong into a retro-soul jam, in a Cee-Lo contemporary style (and which may initially lead The Milk to being mistaken for an all black American soul act), largely due to the vocals of Ricky Nunn. Its a pretty sweet sound and one that strikes a departure from much of what is currently being heard in the mainstream. On the B-side to B-Roads you can find a remix version by the rapper Byron Chadwick.
The Milk started out as teen punksters, then reformed and came back with a change of style that bleeds a mix of soul, funk and hip-hop. And it looks like they have hit on a winning formula. Nominated for Best Breakthrough Artist at the UK Festivals Awards this year, they have already played sell-out shows around London at venues like Camden Barfly and Jazz Caf. With a big UK tour lined up for next March/ April, and the release of their debut album, The Milk look like the cream of the crop right now.