Talking 'Bout the Milkshakes

I’m gonna go ahead and guess that Billy Childish – in addition to poems and stories or whatever else he writes – has probably penned around a thousand songs, if not more. And even if all of those songs stunk, it would still be a pretty remarkable accomplishment. The thing is, most of ‘em are good enough to inspire even the most sedate housewife to throw down her vacuum and cut that rug in lieu of sweeping it. Childish might not get the acclaim in the States that he deserves, but he is without question a jewel in the crown of that majestic England.

After the Pop Rivets, his first group, ceased working together, Childish quickly joined the ranks of one of his roadies and reconstituted the Milkshakes, who had been playing with a different front man for a while. And while the group only continued on for roughly 4 years, there are more discs with the name Milkshakes adorning the cover than most bands that last for a decade. That’s obviously not an endorsement, but if you like what you hear, there’s more where it came from at least.

The sounds that the Milkshakes take their groove from are really what the rest of Childish’s career would be based upon. It’s all wide eyed, pissed off ‘60s styled bangers with nary a let up able to be found. That, of course, means that there might not be a need to pick any of this group’s recordings if you already have your Billy Childish fix, but I kinda feel like there can’t ever be too much. And after Childish figured out how to work in this vein, he just kept reeling off classics. While there might be some over lap between this and later discs – comps and the like – hearing Talking ‘Bout in its initial form is pretty awe inspiring. It’s also gotta be recalled that in ’81 there were still bands trying to figure out how punk should figure into popular music. This here, though, moved backwards.

The point that Ned Ragget makes in his write up of the album is that since the Milkshakes attempted to recreate beat combos – which were arguably made up of some pretty average players – the band’s first album hits its mark. So where as the original beat combos were working to try and rave up some electric blues in a more aggressive fashion, the musical capability of those folks necessitated cutting some corners. But knocking off the knock offs presents significantly less trouble. Regardless of that point, what the Milkshakes are able to do on just their first disc is not just palatable and listenable, but gripping

Within the 14 tracks on Talking ‘Bout, one’d be hard pressed to locate a bummer. And although, this could be perceived as a string of hits, the standouts involves a sax player by the name of Martin Waller. He might be as inconsequential at this point as the guy on Funhouse, but for a brief moment he was as much a part of the music as Childish or Iggy.