Hot Milk – ‘A Call To The Void’ [Album Review]

In the past eighteen months or so, there has been a wave of hot new British alternative rock bands emerging, ready to take on the world. Acts like Wargasm and Cassyette can now regularly be seen tearing up stages across the UK, and not undeservedly so. Now turn your eyes towards Manchester, and you’ll see Hot Milk joining that list.

A fucked-up whirlwind of alt-pop and edgy modern rock, Hot Milk are the kind of band once seen, you don’t forget. Having brought their energy to festivals and tours across the UK, the Mancunian duo are ready to drop A Call To The Void, their debut album, and, thankfully, they’ve captured that raw, snotty energy down on record. I say thankfully because a lot of “modern rock” bands lose their energy thanks to that sugary, over-polished sound, but not Hot Milk. Tracks like the full-throttle “Party On My Death Bed” sound pristine without sounding sterile, while the brilliant pop-punk/alt-rock mash-up that is “Alice Cooper’s Pool House” surely wins song title of the year.

Live you already know the pair are brimming with ridiculous levels of confidence, and that just seeps through on this stunning record. The hooks are huge, the attitude is massive, and the end product is just phenomenal. You only have to let your ears be pounded once by this album to know that, in Han Mee and Jim Shaw, this is a match made in heaven but one that ended up being schooled in the depths of hell.

A blistering collection of arena-sized rock anthems, songs like “Over Your Dead Body” are as trashy as they are catchy while songs like “Amphetamine” and “Horror Show” are as fucked-up as they are infectious. Towards the end of the album, the gentler tones of “Forget Me Not” power this album to the next level but, by then, A Call To The Void has set itself up as the benchmark for all young up and coming British rock bands to aim towards.

Check out the band online here: https://www.hotmilk.co.uk.

A Call To The Void Track Listing:

1. Welcome To The…
2. Horror Show
3. Bloodstream
4. Party On My Deathbed
5. Alice Cooper’s Pool House
6. Zoned Out
7. Over Your Dead Body
8. Migraine
9. Breathing Underwater
10. Amphetamine (Feat. Julian Comeau of Loveless)
11. Forget Me Not

Run Time: 33:57
Release Date: August 25, 2023
Record Label: Music For Nations