Tiny Dancers - 'Free School Milk' (Parolophone) Released 11/06/07

‘Free School Milk’ is flamboyancy, eccentricity and an excitable slice of escapism in CD format...

by Gill Ripley
Saturday, June 16, 2007

Tiny Dancers - 'Free School Milk' (Parolophone) Released 11/06/07

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We are reassured Tiny Dancer's name is not taken from the famous Elton John song, yet the whole look of ‘Free School Milk’ is flamboyancy, eccentricity and an excitable slice of escapism in CD format. ’20 to 9’ has a Beefheart vibe in its introduction, gently pounding to an anticipated trip. It seems to plateaux before it really reaches anywhere, a bit like opening a surprise parcel, to find an M&S jumper. David Kay’s vocals are strong and so is the percussion from the outset, it just needs a bit more rocket juice to stop it parping halfway through.

‘I Will Wait For You’ is a contrasting jaunty number that would not be out of place in a camper fan en route to festival. This feeling continues through the next tracks. Bright and refreshing and carefully non-sickening, Tiny Dancers are cute pop princes who do it well when they are not being too sinister.

Moving onto their more heart felt apparel, ‘Ashes And Diamonds’ is a quite endearing Aerosmith-esque soft rock piece. It does not challenge you into thinking that you are a sap with thoughtful lyrics that do not tread on the toes of cheese. ‘Free School Milk’ changes its style more often than Victoria Beckham, yet is honest throughout despite a weak first track. The folkiness of ‘Bonfire Of The Night’ gives way to a sadder ‘Moon Song 2’.

The jangling guitars continue to the end of the album with quirky synths and cheeky effects, rounding off with another ambiguous start to ‘Deep Water’. With sounds far from their Sheffield counterparts (no names mentioned), there’s no snarling, no hating, just group of lads that are agreeably nice to listen to. It is not a cop out, they are ‘nice’, but not dull. Better than to screech unconvincingly in an anorak, as we all goodheartedly agree.

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