Second of the Glasgow bands with new albums out featured by Ralph this week is Mildred's Dairy and their quirkily named offering The Helsinki Bus Station Theory. In keeping with the retro feel of the album's packaging (niftily designed by Alf Button) slightly 80's vibed tunes and faux record effect, it would be all the more impressive served up as a vinyl platter.
Mildred's Dairy have the feel of a grown-up Orange Juice, Aztec Camera and Deacon Blue throughout this release with well-crafted, well-written tracks immaculately played and produced. Then there's the relatively tongue-in-cheek nature of the sleeve notes and the band's ambiguously anonymous bio. Possibly self-explanatory when you think more about the album's title which is based on The Helsinki Bus Station Theory. First outlined in a 2004 graduation speech by Finnish-American photographer Arno Mikkinen, the theory claims that the secret to a creatively fulfilling career lies in understanding the operations of Helsinki's main bus station. With that in mind this offering may be a Mildred's Dairy Last Train To Glasgow Central.
This album is infectious to listen to, with some extremely radio friendly tracks. Ralph's already played Evergreen on his Radio KC Indie Show and they've featured on Tom Robinson's Fresh On The Net program recently. They will also lend themselves very well to live performances.
It's on the cards that the band will be gigging with increasing frequency throughout 2016 and with tracks like Fools Rush In they'll quickly get the crowds on-side and grooving along.