Steven Milne - Best Of Times EP

No, not the St. Johnstone frontman. Though, if the name Steven Milne sounds familiar, that's because he's been mentioned on this ol' blog a few times now. This particular Steven is the frontman for Aberdeen's prima indie band The Little Kicks, and with them, is already responsible for bringing us one of the finest Scottish debut albums of recent years, Boxing Clever. Not content with preparing the eagerly-awaited follow-up to that, Steven is about to release his solo Best Of Times EP next week. with debut album Chasing Phantoms following on 1^st November.

So "is the EP any good?" I hear you say...... It is indeed!

The opening, title track is reminiscent of The Coral during one of their slower, moodier moments, and wouldn't sound out of place on the Scousers' Best Of. We'll skip Track 2 for the time being and come back to it in a mo. Finishing off the EP are two mellower, melodic beauties, Brian Wilson and Human Being. Complete with some of Steven's own vocal harmonies, the former is a song fit to pay homage to the great Beach Boy himself!

Now, lets get back to Track 2. Anyone with the audacity to cover Orange Juice's Rip It Up, arguably one of Scotland's greatest ever pop songs, is taking a bit of a gamble. Thankfully, Steven's jangly, funky take on the classic is an absolute cracker!

Without a doubt, the Best Of Times EP is further evidence Steven Milne is one of the most exciting songwriters in Scotland. It's released on 20^th September on Bedford Records, ahead of a busy month of touring to plug the CD release of his debut album Chasing Phantoms on 1^st November. If you head over to Amazon MP3 you can already download the album, and if you fancy catching him live, here's the details...

Upcoming Gigs
23^rd Sept - Snafu, Aberdeen (acoustic)
30^th Sept - Kilau, Aberdeen (acoustic)
2^nd Oct - Mad Hatters, Inverness (supporting Sparrow and the Workshop)
3^rd Oct - Sneaky Petes, Edinburgh
15^th Oct - The Old Bridge Inn, Aviemore
30^th Oct - Instore @ One Up Records, Aberdeen
20^th Nov - The Lemon Tree, Aberdeen (album launch party)