Published on Nov 5, 2012
Milo Greene is a young five-piece from Los Angeles; none of its members are named Milo Greene, though Milo certainly played a hand at the inception of some of their careers. Back when three of the five members of the band were going the solo route, they decided they needed a formal manager. Milo Greene was born, a virtual entity who represented each of them during college and covered the emails, networking, and representation of the musicians in the cyber world. When they came together to play music as a group, it only seemed natural to adopt Milo Greene as their moniker. After all, he did play a significant role in their formative years.
Isolating themselves in a barn near Seattle, the Milo Greene took a collective route to recording this first album. Each member contributes to the songwriting and singing, taking the focus off one person and instead placing it on the band as a whole. The result is an indie folk disc full of harmonies, warm guitar work, and soulful touches of piano. It's a sophisticated journey, poetic in its delivery and heartfelt from beginning to end.
Their first single, "1957" (which they played on Letterman) is worth the price of admission alone. A gorgeous tune that begins with gentleness and continues with a driving tempo that sounds like the soundtrack to a campfire, it wouldn't surprise me if this song alone projected the band to superstardom. "Don't You Give Up On Me" follows a similar approach, but has several members taking on vocal duties and an overall darker feel. The band utilize male/female harmonizing in spades here; Marlana Sheetz often sounds like a more youthful Stevie Nicks, especially on the acoustic based "Take A Step.”
This is often a dreamy, lush adventure, best exemplified by "Son My Son.” This soothing track uses interesting lyrical patterns to convey its pensive ideas. Experimental ideas get thrown into the mix with "Perfectly Aligned," but they go back to basics with the devastating "Silent Way," which tugs at the heartstrings with quaint strings and banjo plucking. A few short instrumental tracks are thrown in between the longer songs. While I wouldn't say these tracks add much to the overall impact of the disc, they do break things up a bit and seem like well placed interludes.
With the success of The Lumineers this year, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if this is the next band to break into the mainstream, as both bands share similar levels of creativity and subdued, mature songwriting. And if they do, it's well deserved; there's a lot of beauty and timelessness in these songs, and Milo Greene is the sort of disc your parents are likely to enjoy just as much as you. “