There isn’t a single cooler band on the planet than Milk Teeth. This is just a fact. Forming in Gloucestershire in 2013, the band quickly built a cult following by combining elements of post-hardcore, grunge, shoegaze, and just about every other good genre in existence. Over the course of 2 EPs and one full-length, the band built up enough stock to get signed by Roadrunner Records.
As we mentioned in our best of 2017 list, this could have been considered a kiss of death for Milk Teeth. After all, Roadrunner is a division of Warner Brothers. There’s always an anxiety that a major label will file down the rougher edges of an indie favourite until their unrecognisable to their hardcore fans.
Well, fear not, you unbearable hipsters. Be Nice is a short showcase of everything that makes Milk Teeth an essential 21st century band. Sure, the opener, ‘Owning Your Okayness’, maybe the most straightforward thing that they’ve ever written. Luckily, it turns out Milk Teeth do pop-rock really, really well. The song sounds like something that would have been all over college radio in 1992, with its huge hooks and scorned-lover lyrics.
However, the real backbone of Be Nice lies in the following tracks. These songs see singer vocalist Becky Blomfield at her most venomous. ‘Prism’ features lines so biting that they would make Morrissey blush. Meanwhile, ‘Fight Skirt’ borders on hardcore-punk, with a riotous double-time finale that spits in the face of anyone who thought that they would tone it down for their new bosses.
The highlight of the EP is the ultimate track, the fragile ‘Hibernate’. Opening with a tender riff, Becky dives into the anxieties of giving her all to Milk Teeth. Its songs like this that have made Milk Teeth such a well-loved band. From the self-doubt to the fear of growing up, Becky succinctly sums-up the anxieties of so many millennials that are trying desperately to outrun the misery of the modern world.
Be Nice is Milk Teeth’s shortest EP. However, in 12 minutes, the band manages to cover the plethora of styles that make them a uniquely brilliant band. It’s the perfect introduction to the band for anyone who has only recently becomes acquainted with them through Roadrunner. Let’s hope this is the launching pad for them to burst into the big-time, because they certainly deserve it.
