The Milk’s Gone Bad, will be released on 10th April and is The Recks’ first new release since their 2018 debut album The Beast From The Sea. It is the first of 3 singles due for release in 2020 and RockShot are very pleased to have secured the exclusive video premiere, and what an engrossing video it is.
The Milk’s Gone Bad, is heavier than the tracks on The Beast From The Sea. it was most probably influenced subconsciously by the surroundings of which it was created. Written by Guitarist/singer Richey Powers whilst sat in his kitchen playing guitar, watching a charm of finches bicker over food on the bird feeder, drinking black coffee because the milk in the fridge had gone off.
The video tells a story about a musician and his significant other, who is adept at the black arts. The detail in the set is pretty impressive, whilst not trying to look too slick. The folders on the bookcase and desk, and portraits add normality to the surreal scene. It is well shot, directed and the changes between colour and monochrome are effective. The visuals are a perfect accompaniment to the darkness of the song.
The Recks told RockShot ‘The video for The Milk’s Gone Bad is a representation of a relationship gone sour. We chose skeletons to reflect the bare bones of the situation (and also milk because… calcium) and black magic to represent music and art in general. All artists will at some point have heard their significant others use a variant of ‘it’s harder for you, I know, you’re so in love with rock and roll’ feeling secondary to the love of art. Our character turns to substance abuse and mental health deteriorates. To lighten the mood, the clumsy puppetry gives it a childish appeal that we like to have in the majority of our videos as the subject matter tends to be quite dark. Kids love them, grown ups think we’re on drugs.’
For those of you that know The Recks, you know to expect the unexpected, as their music is very diverse and never boring. For those that do not know, The Recks are a multi-genre, psychedelic, alt-indie five-piece from the Isle of Sark in the Channel Islands, whose unique songwriting style and frenetic live performances at festivals such as Board Masters, Isle of Wight Festival and Boomtown Fair quickly earned them a dedicated fan base across the U.K. and many positive reviews. As an group they are interesting to, with each band member having a distinct and individual look.
Their genre-bending repertoire includes gypsy jazz, folk, reggae, indie, hip-hop and rock and after releasing their debut album, they have been riding a wave of success, culminating in an appearance on the BBC Introducing Stage at Latitude Festival; a raucous performance that earned them airtime on The Late Junction on BBC Radio 3.As well as performing many local shows and festivals in the Channel Islands, 2019 saw The Recks embark on a successful ten show tour in the South of England, support alt-indie rock band King Nun in their native Guernsey, play to a packed out Big Top Stage at Beautiful Days Festival and perform three unique shows in Sweden at the INES Showcase, Live at Heart to full houses and rave reviews.
The end of 2019 was successfully rounded off by recording three live tracks for BBC Music Introducing at Maida Vale Studios and were broadcast on various BBC radio stations and had planned a series of live shows to support the single release. As with all bands Coronavirus has driven a freight train through their plans and we got an isight into this when they explained to us.
“Back in January 2020, when Corona Virus was little more than a meme, we had a great little tour booked to promote our brand new single, The Milk’s Gone Bad, with dates in Guernsey, London, Brighton, Weymouth, Isle of Wight, Newquay, Exeter and Bristol. These shows included support slots with Slaughterhouse Band, The Undercover Hippy, The Andy Quick Band as well as our own headline shows and even a festival fundraiser for animals affected by the Australian Wildfires! This tour included some venues we know very well, some venues we would be playing for the very first time and some venues like Dublin Castle, that are iconic!
However, it wasn’t to be. Richey (vocalist and guitarist) suffers from Behcets Syndrome and has a compromised immune system as a result, so as we watched the wave of Covid 19 come ploughing through Italy, Germany, Spain, France we knew the tour was done. A lot of venues were disappointed that we had cancelled but we knew that cancellation was inevitable for all and if not, then worse was surely to come.”
The Recks in more carefree times
‘We abandoned rehearsing for the tour and concentrated on rehearsing songs to record before the Government called for isolation, which thankfully, we managed with only one week to spare. Ash (brass player and vocalist) was the first to be confined as the tiny Channel Island of Sark shut it’s doors to the rest of the Bailiwick. Just one day later following an announcement by the U.K. Prime Minister, the States of Guernsey ordered a complete lockdown marooning the other four members of the band.
We have had to scrap everything, months of planning gone, even our local BBC Introducing live session can no longer go ahead, it’s phone interviews only from now on.
This video premiere within your magazine is our message in a bottle! To let everyone know we’re still around and doing as much as we can!”
