Midlake
Milkmaid Grand Army EP (Re-release)

Mixing motorik rhythms, languorous arrangements, lo-fi gargled vocals and a large debt to the likes of Grandaddy and Radiohead’s OK Computer, the seven-track CD is an intriguing if very uneven unveiling of Tim Smith & co’s burgeoning songwriting promise. It is, though, highly derivative and occasionally extremely unflattering.

Among the highlights are ‘Paper Gown’, which sounds like a wobbly, waltzing Thom Yorke; all grandiose fragility and keening falsetto, while ‘Excited But Not Enough’ is a fuzz-sludged run through the Muse back catalogue. Tracks like ‘Simple’, on the other hand, meander and fade away without amounting to anything more than polite atmospherics and closer ‘Golden Hour’ sounds uncannily-like a barely-disguised lift from long-lost Radiohead B-side ‘You Never Wash Up After Yourself_’.