Until recently, the chorus pedal was considered about as fashionable as Eamonn Holmes, but a new breed of band is once again using it to warp minds and amp stacks alike. Case in point: Stroud's noisily excellent Milk Teeth.
"I have an Electro-Harmonix Small Clone chorus pedal and I never turn it off!" states guitarist Chris. "It's just been on for forever now. It broke recently and it was like, 'Why does my guitar sound weird?' I was just so used to it being on…"
That was the sound in my head, so it's really just thick, distorted tones: super loud and super big
The four-piece formed in their college years, but first came to our attention last year with the Sad Sack EP - a collection of wailing, rampaging grunge with boisterous bounce. New album Vile Child (released back in January) is yet another strong step forward for a band that's already a thoroughly exciting prospect.
"We've just gotten a lot better at writing and considering each other's parts," considers Chris. "That's the main difference on the album."
One thing that's not changed, we're pleased to say, is Milk Teeth's guitar tone: a unique juxtaposition of co-guitarist Josh Bannister's sparkling Fender Jazzmaster and Twin Reverb combo and Chris' fi lthed-up Les Paul Junior through a Sound City MK III head.
Tone bones
"I bought the Junior because I loved Billie Joe Armstrong's tone, but then I wanted something thicker than that," explains Chris. "That was the sound in my head, so it's really just thick, distorted tones: super loud and super big."
Aside from the Small Clone, of course, this is all achieved with judicious application of a Fuzzrocious Demon King. "It's so gnarly and it's got a feedback looper on it, which is great for those gross noises!"
Given all the grossness, it's a bit unusual, we comment, that the band have signed to super-slick US pop-punk behemoths Hopeless Records.
"A lot of people say, 'Oh don't they only sign pop-punk bands?'" says Chris. "We're not the usual kind of band they'd sign, but I'm hoping that makes us stand-out. The week we signed All Time Low were number one in like all the countries, ever, so it's a good time [for the label]."
Milk Teeth balance the sickly and the sweet in equal, enthralling measure, but if the album whets your appetite for chorus'd grunge riffs, catch the band on tour throughout the UK in May.
- For fans of: Dinosaur Pile-Up, God Damn
- Hear: Brickwork
