More Than I Am

“BottLe”, MiLkBabY’s 5th album in it’s 10 year history, marks two accomplishments not often found together: it is at once MiLkBabY’s ambitious and accessible album. From the global paranoia of “up on the television” to a bittersweet ode to a young daughter (“greater than two”); MiLkBabY cover a lot of ground sonically -- and in the course of its 66 minutes, the listener covers a lot of ground emotionally.

Producer/Bandleader/multi-instrumentalist, Barry Bennett, keeps sounds immediate and human no matter how otherworldly the tones fluttering past the ear may be. Perhaps the secret is Bennett’s propulsive drumming that remains tribal even with an electric palette to take its pounding. This writer thinks the secret may lie in the chemistry he shares with his latest set of band mates, Darren Shepherd and Sophie Senard, with whom he plays riveting fully improvised rock shows as MiLkBabY. Shepherd, a band leader in his own right (Belmondos) and a noted sideman in the Chicago scene, is so inventive with guitar and bass that it is a shame he is not more well known. You sometimes forget that he and Bennett aren’t one person at the core of these songs; especially evident in pagan bliss of “our autumnal fire” . Then there is the icing on the cake, Miss Senard. Whether gliding through the scrum with a plaintive accordion, adding mystery with eerily effected gongs, or providing a wry sense of humor in her vocals for “bored”, she -- like her previous female presence, Tracee Westmoreland, -- is often the super secret weapon to the MiLkBabY mix.

Speaking of Westmoreland, she too makes an appearance on a track (“sneaky stevie”) ; as does her other classic MiLkBabY band mate, David Lee Smith, on “tell the moon.” Both ex-pats, absent since 2001, recorded with Bennett on recent visits from Brussels and Berlin respectively with still vibrant chemical ties.

Whatever it is that MiLkBabY has put in its BottLe, it makes for a surprising and satisfying listen. As it says in the liner notes, “Go ahead. Drink it. Its full of the yummy love.”