Mickey & the Milkshakes “Talking ‘Bout – Milkshakes” 1981/1995. Reissue on Hangman’s Daughter (originally on Milkshakes Records). Garage rock, a spot-on nod (almost spoof-level) to 60′s British garage rock, down to the mono recording, black and white photos, font and liner notes (“They learned their trade the hard way – peddling their songs around the dusty docks of Hamburg and their native Medway Towns…”). Mickey & the Milkshakes was fronted by (Wild) Billy Childish who’s been in about a million bands but probably most known for Thee Headcoats. It’s classic garage rock: plenty of Bo Diddley beats, rockin’ rhythm and blues, rough guitar tinged with a bit of surf instrumental (like “Shed Country” which even has a bit of sax thrown into the mix). Link Wray-ish for sure. Childish’s vocals, though, belie the decade of Talking ‘Bout Milkshakes’ recording. His is definitely a voice that went through 70′s rock and punk (a bit raspy and worn like on the down-beat and almost heart-breaking “Don’t Love Another”). My top track is “Can’tcha See” which is catchy, groovy, rough-edge perfection. Allmusic says about Talking ‘Bout Milkshakes “It’s pure freakbeat/garage action from 1965 or so smack-dab in 1981, but the thing is, it’s so fresh sounding that it neatly sidesteps the whole nostalgia issue. Indeed, it actually sounds better technically speaking than a lot of the material that inspired it, for all that the group was clearly aiming for that sound and presentation in the first place.”