PREMIERE: Milk Insist They’re “Too High to Drive” in New Single

Matt Brady and Sam Taber formed Milk in the decidedly non-bovine confines of Boston University back in 2012. Since then, the duo have expanded their lineup, and with it their sound. On their sophomore LP, the forthcoming Horsetown Threshold, they’re joined by bassist Brian Engles and the delightfully named H.L. Weatherby on drums.

But to reduce Milk to its members is to risk understating the depth of their sound. Brady and Taber are classic songwriters, piecing together solitary small-town vignettes in much the same way that Jeff Tweedy did circa Sky Blue Sky. “Too High to Drive,” which we’re premiering today, is one such song, though it takes a decidedly older page from Tweedy’s playbook. The song unspools on a tidy little rag of an acoustic guitar riff, the kind of thing A.A. Bondy used to put together, but as Brady cops to the level of his intoxication, the band combust in a flurry of cymbals and guitar that, despite their insistently amelodic efforts, never throw him off course.

Instead, Brady builds in confidence, and the song seems to shrug its shoulders and fall in line behind him, glistening as it does with slide guitars, soft organs, and the occasional jittery guitar jag. It’s a precise song, one that threatens to fall apart but instead holds together by sheer power of will. Give it a listen below, and if you happen to be in the Northeast, you can catch Milk on the road; those dates are below, too.

Milk tour dates