Milking Diamonds – Surface When It’s Clear (vitaminDrecords)
Wow, and wow again. This is such a refreshing listen. If you have ever risen early on a summer morning and helped yourself to the dew on the grass, felt it’s clarity on your fingertips, and let it trickle down your throat for that first drink of the day, then you will understand the comparison that I am making here.

On first hearing Surface When It’s Clear, the band’s debut album, I was stunned by the sheer clarity of the sound. This clearness just jumps right out at you, whether it’s the singing of Katherine Scholl (or Sam French, Jr. on his one foray into the vocal limelight on “From The Inside”) or the astute backing, there’s a very definite edge to this music that demands your full attention. You’re led by this trio into territory previously charted by so many bands recently, and you mistakenly think you have heard it all before, until the insistent sound burns deeply into your soul, and the urgency cuts through that membrane that occasionally turns a new music listening experience into a background occurrence. You soon realise that this is a novel experience after all.

The eight tracks here wont give you a moment’s rest. They each surface with a bright sparkle, and as neat as a new pin. The mix of keyboards and guitar is more a continuous glitter than a shimmering wash, and very tidily underpinned by some really solid drumming. And it is all over in the shortest 40 minutes that I can remember.

This is one ‘diamond’ band that does not have a flaw.
www.myspace.com/milkingdiamonds
Kev A.

MILKING DIAMONDS – WAVELENGTH

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