The Milk Carton Kids’ ‘Monterey‘ is soft and gentle
The Milk Carton Kids were on Conan last week, where they gave a superb performance of their latest single ‘The City of Our Lady‘. And after I’d watched them sing it at least five times, I remembered I hadn’t listened to their new album yet. So, I remedied that.
Called Monterey, it’s the third album for The Milk Carton Kids, and one that has been quite critically acclaimed. Unsurprisingly and well-deservedly, as Monterey was recorded in the halls and a church where they were about to perform. Before the audience arrived to distract. (Rolling Stone has an excellent article about how the album was recorded).
As The Guardian said, Monterey, to me, is “minimalist”. It’s also short. With just 11 tracks and a 37 minute playing time. But, unlike The Guardian, I don’t think “the songs slip past in a gentle blur”. They stick with me quite stridently, soft and gentle as they might be.
From  ‘Freedom’, which is an old-fashioned folk protest song to the title track ‘Monterey‘, and it’s Spanish-Cuban influence, and on into the melancholic and barely there ‘Sing, Sparrow, Sing‘, Monterey is a quite lovely offering.
Oh and, yes, with their beautiful harmonies, The Milk Carton Kids do definitely sound like Simon and Garfunkel. You are not imagining it.
Now listen to Monterey below. I recommend doing it late at night, right before you turn out the light, as this will relax you like no other.