Rocker (feedbot)
Gold Member
“Listen mate, it’s a social commentary, calm down…but it’s kinda true,” reassures vocalist Han Mee halfway through ‘Insubordinate Ingerland’, the second track on Hot Milk’s latest studio album. Her line is the perfect summary for where ‘Corporation Pop’ is coming from. We all know that “Hot Milk is an emotion”, to quote their t-shirts, but that undefined emotion now is bubbling towards anger. It’s more than that though; we know that the Mancunians have a reputation for politically biting lyrics, but the layer of blunt honesty and courage, the “kinda true”, side to their music, is amped up along with their ideological views. If you want your pop punk as assertive and venomous as a cobra at a demonstration, then ‘Corporation Pop’ is going to light your fire.
The early single drops are your primer to Hot Milk’s new direction. ‘Insubordinate Ingerland’ is a riotous critique, dominated by a catchy synth line and a hell of a lot of deceptively cute vocals from Mee that only thinly cover her rage at the present state of affairs at home. In the same way Cock Sparrer captured an undercurrent of working class frustration in the eighties, Hot Milk have tapped into the contradictory mix of frustrations that make up their national identity. “I’m England til I die, born and bred where the love is died,” Mee wails, “stop your dreaming and drink your pint.” Making a track that was purely slating the government would be too simple for Hot Milk, and this ironic slammer has a potential to be absolutely massive for them. The partner track, ‘The American Machine’, is even more vicious, Hot Milk’s ire turned towards the global stage. Jim Shaw’s scream dominates the vocals, grinding through their rage and turning it into strong, resistant riffs. Despite the grim state of the world, Hot Milk aren’t taking it lying down. ‘Swallow This’, their equivalent of the red pill / blue scene in the Matrix, preaches hope and independence amid pitch black chords. Above all, Hot Milk are smart commentators, who know that the resistance which pours from every second of ‘Corporation Pop’ is the solution they’re seeking.
If we lived in an era where vinyl was the only way to access music, ‘Corporation Pop’ would have an A-Side and a B-Side, split neatly with a nearly instrumental interlude. From a worldwide political overview, they’re stepping back into their personal lives, from ‘Chase The Dragon’ with it’s gentle chorus of love, to vengeful, spiked menace on ’90 Seconds to Midnight’. ‘Asphyxiate’ is the standout though. It’s majestic, rising from quiet vulnerable reflection to an optimistic, sunlit chorus, rich in acceptance and confusion, the song for waking up on the first morning after a breakup. Duets are always one of Hot Milk’s strong points, and the combination of Shaw and Mee’s vocals at full strength dares you to sing back to them. The emptiness in the contours of ‘Payment of Pain’ is beautifully agonising, and for those who find consolation in Hot Milk’s expression of their own bad times, this will be the highlight of the album. Despite all the fire and fury, they choose to close on ‘Sympathy Symphony’, a song that’s profoundly different to the rest of the record, the crossroads between their political angst and their personal reflections. It’s the most metal song, and in between the theatrical chords we get the sense that Hot Milk, as people, are not okay with how the world is going. Sometimes you can put your feelings into well thought out, careful words, and sometimes you just need to vent with a scream that scares the neighbours, and ‘Sympathy Symphony’ is very much the latter.
If you’ve seen a clip of Hot Milk’s set at Slam Dunk, or you were lucky enough to be there in person, their new era will have hit you in the face. They’re entering a darker, more assertive era, having exorcised their pasts on the last album. Now, they’re ready to stand up and grab the world by the collar to give it a good shaking; ‘Corporation Pop’ is the record to do just that.
KATE ALLVEY
The early single drops are your primer to Hot Milk’s new direction. ‘Insubordinate Ingerland’ is a riotous critique, dominated by a catchy synth line and a hell of a lot of deceptively cute vocals from Mee that only thinly cover her rage at the present state of affairs at home. In the same way Cock Sparrer captured an undercurrent of working class frustration in the eighties, Hot Milk have tapped into the contradictory mix of frustrations that make up their national identity. “I’m England til I die, born and bred where the love is died,” Mee wails, “stop your dreaming and drink your pint.” Making a track that was purely slating the government would be too simple for Hot Milk, and this ironic slammer has a potential to be absolutely massive for them. The partner track, ‘The American Machine’, is even more vicious, Hot Milk’s ire turned towards the global stage. Jim Shaw’s scream dominates the vocals, grinding through their rage and turning it into strong, resistant riffs. Despite the grim state of the world, Hot Milk aren’t taking it lying down. ‘Swallow This’, their equivalent of the red pill / blue scene in the Matrix, preaches hope and independence amid pitch black chords. Above all, Hot Milk are smart commentators, who know that the resistance which pours from every second of ‘Corporation Pop’ is the solution they’re seeking.
If we lived in an era where vinyl was the only way to access music, ‘Corporation Pop’ would have an A-Side and a B-Side, split neatly with a nearly instrumental interlude. From a worldwide political overview, they’re stepping back into their personal lives, from ‘Chase The Dragon’ with it’s gentle chorus of love, to vengeful, spiked menace on ’90 Seconds to Midnight’. ‘Asphyxiate’ is the standout though. It’s majestic, rising from quiet vulnerable reflection to an optimistic, sunlit chorus, rich in acceptance and confusion, the song for waking up on the first morning after a breakup. Duets are always one of Hot Milk’s strong points, and the combination of Shaw and Mee’s vocals at full strength dares you to sing back to them. The emptiness in the contours of ‘Payment of Pain’ is beautifully agonising, and for those who find consolation in Hot Milk’s expression of their own bad times, this will be the highlight of the album. Despite all the fire and fury, they choose to close on ‘Sympathy Symphony’, a song that’s profoundly different to the rest of the record, the crossroads between their political angst and their personal reflections. It’s the most metal song, and in between the theatrical chords we get the sense that Hot Milk, as people, are not okay with how the world is going. Sometimes you can put your feelings into well thought out, careful words, and sometimes you just need to vent with a scream that scares the neighbours, and ‘Sympathy Symphony’ is very much the latter.
If you’ve seen a clip of Hot Milk’s set at Slam Dunk, or you were lucky enough to be there in person, their new era will have hit you in the face. They’re entering a darker, more assertive era, having exorcised their pasts on the last album. Now, they’re ready to stand up and grab the world by the collar to give it a good shaking; ‘Corporation Pop’ is the record to do just that.
KATE ALLVEY