The Milk & Honey Band
Dog Eared Moonlight
(Ape Records, 2009)

Being unfamiliar with UK singer-songwriter Robert White’s former band, Levitation, I had very little to direct me to his current outfit, the Milk & Honey Band, other than the implied endorsement of XTC’s Andy Partridge, whose label, Ape Records, has released their new album, Dog Eared Moonlight, just as they did the band’s prior offering, The Secret Life of the Milk & Honey Band. Happily, this bit of back channel knowledge not only resulted in my discovery of an extremely talented songwriter and his band, but it also helped me get past the band’s name, which (wrongly) seemed to evoke a bible-thumping Christian ministry.

Being a rather devout fan of XTC, I had of course assumed that White and his crew would sound exactly like the Bard of Swindon himself, Mr. Partridge, which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. It happens to not be the case, however, and White not only avoids emulation of his label boss, but is possessed of an original voice that is entirely worthy of your unbiased attention.

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