Milltown Brothers

About

Milltown Brothers – September 2025 From Colne and Lancaster, the Milltown Brothers first burst onto the indie scene in 1989 with the ‘Coming From The Mill EP’ getting high praise in NME. Second indie single ‘Which Way Should I Jump’ started a bidding war between the majors. Signing to A&M worldwide in 1990, WWSIJ was re-recorded & broke into the UK charts at Number 38. America liked it & put it to Number 10 in the Billboard US Rock Chart. The album – Slinky – was a revelation and pushed the boundaries for their peers. Defying the critics who had incorrectly labelled them as baggy the MBs delivered an absolute classic album of catchy, punchy songs, perfectly paced & well-balanced. The album received a maximum 5 Stars in Q Magazine. A second A&M album (Valve) appeared in the late summer of 1993 of which Gary Crowley (Capital Radio, The Chart Show, BBC Radio London) commented that final track Cool Breeze ‘was one of the best songs of the year’. In March 2004, they released their third studio album – Rubberband. Playing to their strengths, it once more demonstrated their head for melody, band dynamics and song writing. Described in Record Collector as ‘a faultless third album’. After a further lengthy hiatus, the band returned to the studio in 2014, releasing their self-financed forth studio album, ‘Long Road’, the following year. Q liked it and awarded three stars with the record receiving significant levels of media acclaim: XSNoise gave an 8/10 review observing that: “Long Road is a mature entry illuminated throughout by the experiences of life. It is earnest and heartfelt as it highlights the little things in life that make it special and a life worth living. It is a lovely collection of songs worthy of a lulling Sunday morning in the summer.” Louder than War went further awarding 8.5/10 stating: “Perhaps Long Road is an album that could see The Milltown Brothers repeat their huge success in Europe and Japan… Perhaps The Milltown Brothers have just released one of the most perfect guitar-led, Indie albums of the year.” ‘Stockholm’, a fifth studio album, followed in 2020. Again, the record received strong reviews with, for example, Backseat Mafia saying: “literally, it is one of our favourite records of the year”. Gigs were lined up on its release but, unfortunately, Covid 19 had other ideas and the band were not to return to the stage until August 2023 with a sold-out banger at The Trades Club in Hebden Bridge to promote ‘Tongue-tied Mesmerised’, a collection of early independent singles and demos The Hebden Bridge show revitalised the band. 2024 saw sold out gigs including a first London performance in 20 years and a triumphant return to the main stage at Shiiine On festival. More gigs have followed; among them successful shows in London at the Lexington and the 100 Club and a prestigious slot at Manchester Gorilla as part of Tim Burgess’s May 2025 Merch Market. Their new album, Boogie Woogie will be released on 12th September on two shades of vinyl, CD and Lossless Download on the Last Night From Glasgow label. The single Time to Move On will be released to radio and online streaming platforms as the album lead at this time. Forthcoming shows include: September 12th: Glasgow: Last Night From Glasgow Towers September 19th: Stockport, St Mary’s Church, opening night of the Mercury Climbing Festival December 5th: Colne Municipal Hall More gigs will follow during the late summer to support the album and the planned launch of a new book about the band. The latter, entitled “And Jesus Danced (Twice) – the true story of the Milltown Brothers” has been written by Nigel Wood.