Milltown Brothers

Milltown Brothers are an English indie band from Colne, Lancashire, England.

Milltown Brothers
Milltown Brothers performing at the best of Burnley Festival in 2015.
Milltown Brothers performing at the best of Burnley Festival in 2015.
Background information
OriginColne, Lancashire, England
GenresIndie rock
Years active1989–1993; 2004–present
LabelsA&M
MembersMatt Nelson
Simon Nelson
James Fraser
Barney Williams
Nian Brindle
Websitewww.milltownbrothers.co.uk

Career

Early Releases

In 1989 the bands first independent release on Big Round Records, was the "Coming From The Mill" EP featuring the songs "Roses", "Something On My Mind" and “We’ve Got Time”. It was named single of the week in the NME magazine. The same publication tipped Milltown Brothers for stardom in the 1990s, along with The Hoovers, Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine, The Charlatans, The Mock Turtles and New Fast Automatic Daffodils.[1]

The band's second indie single was "Which Way Should I Jump", with "Silvertown" as the B-side.

A&M Years

After the band signed to A&M Records worldwide in 1990, "Which Way Should I Jump?" was re-recorded and entered the UK Singles Chart at number 38,[2]. It also reached number 10 in the U.S. Billboard Modern Rock chart.

The album Slinky followed. It peaked at number 27 in the UK Albums Chart.[2] Q Magazine described it as the "Byrds with hard-edged contemporary pop and upfront vocals".[3] The next single released from the album was "Here I Stand", which was also used as the theme tune for the BBC television programme, Preston Front. It peaked at number 41 in the UK Singles Chart.[2]

In 1993, the single “Turn Off” was released ahead of the bands second album Valve. The album was not as successful as Slinky and the band eventually left the A&M label.

A 12-track compilation ‘’The Best Of Milltown Brothers’’ was issued by Spectrum Music in 1997.

Independent Releases

It took 10 years for the band to work together again, but in March 2004 they released their third studio album, Rubberband. This double CD was released on their own label Rubber Band Records and made available on their website.

In 2009 an extended 17-track retrospective ‘’Milltown Brothers - Best Of’’ was released on Cherry Red Records.

In the summer of 2015, Milltown Brothers released their fourth album Long Road, which was once again self-released.

In 2020 a further album Stockholm was released featuring eight new songs.

In 2022 a compilation of independent singles and demos from 1987-1990 was released titled Tongue-Tied Mesmerised.

Other Ventures

Fraser has also played bass in Jay Diggins' band and is frontman of Greenheart, a band from Lancaster.[4][5]

Line-up

Discography

Albums
  • Slinky (1991) (No. 27 UK)[2]
  • Valve (1993)
  • Rubberband (2004)
  • Long Road (2015)
  • Stockholm (2020)

Compilations
  • The Best Of Milltown Brothers (Spectrum Music, 1997)
  • Best Of (Cherry Red Records, 2009)
  • Tongue-Tied Mesmerised (Independent Singles + Demos 1987-1990) (2022)

Singles
Year Title Chart Positions Album
UK
[6]		 US Mod Rock
[7]
1989 "Coming From The Mill 1989" (UK only) — — singles only
"Which Way Should I Jump?" (UK only) — —
1990 "Seems to Me" (UK only) — — Slinky
"Apple Green" 82 —
1991 "Which Way Should I Jump?" 38 10
"Here I Stand" (UK only) 41 —
"Sally Ann" (Non-UK) — —
"Apple Green (Dave Meegan Remix)" 43 —
1993 "Turn Off" (UK only) 55 — Valve
"It's All Over Now Baby Blue" (UK only) 48 —
"Sleepwalking" (UK only) — —
"—" denotes single that did not chart or was not released.

References
  1. Tobler, John (1992). NME Rock 'N' Roll Years (1st ed.). London: Reed International Books Ltd. p. 463. CN 5585.
  2. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 368. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. Black, Johnny (5 March 1991). "Slinky review". Q Magazine. 55: 75–6.
  4. "Two bands, one heart". Lancaster Guardian. 18 April 2013. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  5. "New album is psychedelic, funk-fuelled indie goodness". Lancaster Guardian. 6 July 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2017.
  6. "Milltown Brothers - UK Chart". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
  7. "Milltown Brothers - US Alternative Songs". Billboard.com. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
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