Over the past few years, a clutch of great indie bands emerged that took influence from the 90s far more than most. A few real standouts, The Daysleepers sounded as if they’d been raised on a steady diet of The Cure circa 1990, while the brilliant Muncie Girls and Adult Magic would have been right at home on an Indie Top 20 cassette.
…And then came Fightmilk, a jangle heavy outfit whose debut EP took the core of Sleeper and Velocity Girl, shook it up with some extra sass and made guitar heavy indie sounds as exciting as anyone. Signed to the Reckless Yes label – home of the solo Mark Morriss – Fightmilk have a new single due for release that bodes very well for their new full length.
Although somewhat more sedate than previous work, ‘If You Had a Sister’ is unmistakably Fightmilk. The bass sound is warm; the riffs call back to the summer of ’94 and Lily Rae’s vocals present a vaguely sultry, vaguely nonchalant sound that should instantly appeal to anyone that read NME from cover to cover just before the explosion of Britpop.
In terms of three minute indie songs, it has it all. Pulling in the listener via a moody verse, the guitars explode into full jangle for the chorus and the Louise Wener-esque vocals dominate against a big, jangly sound before a brilliant instrumental break combines UK 90s indie with the more contemporary sounds of The Pains of Being Pure At Heart.
With the summer about to become a rapidly fading memory, Fightmilk offer a fantastic tune to kick start your Autumn… Take a listen below.