Fightmilk: Sounds Like A You Problem
(Fika Recordings and INH Records)
DL/Streaming
Out Now
Fightmilk return with an unmissable, crashing tsunami of cathartic anger on their new single Sounds Like A You Problem.
As the record company has seen fit to use it on their PR please allow me to quote myself…
“I’ve said it before, and I’m sure I’ll say it again, but I fucking love Fightmilk”
Sounds Like A You Problem is the first new material from the acclaimed DIY, power-pop quartet since the excellent 2024 album, No Souvenirs, which as was observed, “marked the end of a chapter but also a new beginning with the realisation that many of the hang ups and expectations that people put on you achieving things by a certain age don’t really matter at all”.
Fittingly the new single heralds a bold new direction as Fightmilk look to the future, recording in a new studio with a new producer and returning with a glorious, mean, muscular and feisty slice of pop fury.
Whilst the bands sound has changed over the last 8 years, the last album being a little heavier in tone from 2018’s Not With That Attitude and 2022’s Contender, Sounds Like A You Problem is a major shift. Not perhaps as drastic as when Dylan went electric but it certainly feels like they’ve found a couple of extra settings on their gear. It’s heavier, grittier and made to push your speakers to the max as you’ll want it turned up to 11.
As with many of Fightmilk recordings the inspiration for the track is based in real life.
“This is taken directly from my experience at the hands of a former partner. Whilst I’ve written about it in other songs, this is the first time I’ve addressed it this head-on,” says singer Lily Rae, continuing, “It’s such a common experience for so many people, especially women, that I wanted it to feel recognisable and relatable to anyone who’s gone through the same thing. It’s terrifying and suffocating at the time, but then the aftermath is just anger and later pity. You spend the whole relationship wondering what you could do better and then once you’re free of it you realise the way someone treats you was never your fault, or your problem, at all… I didn’t intend for it to sound like Army of Me by Bjork and Plump by Hole crashing into each other on a motorway but that’s how it turned out and I’m not mad about it. Bob the Excellent Mastering Guy said it was ‘very In Utero’, so that’s nice too. A Big Angry Song!!!”
Guitarist Alex enthuses about how the band have embraced pushing themselves in a new direction.
“In ten years of being Fightmilk, we’ve got used to doing things a certain way, and as we were finishing No Souvenirs, we started thinking of it as the end of an era in some ways,” he says. “Sounds Like A You Problem was the first new song we worked on after that album, so we figured it would be a good time to try something different. Working with a new producer in a new studio encouraged everyone out of their comfort zone on this song in one way or another. Without any backing vocals getting in the way, we probably all just decided to scream through our instruments instead. We went into Rich Mandell’s with no agenda, half-seriously throwing references around like PJ Harvey, The Geraldine Fibbers and, er, Limp Bizkit in an attempt to match the nervous scratchy energy of Lily’s initial demo, and we couldn’t be more proud of what he’s pulled out of us.”
“When we started playing it live, Lily used to yell “I’m sorry” over the middle 8, and I’m glad she doesn’t anymore. This song is many things; apologetic isn’t one of them.”
New year, new Fightmilk, turn it up.
Fightmilk play the Lexington on 23rd with New Starts and Brutalligators. Tickets available here
For all things Fightmilk visit their LinkTree
Photo supplied by INH Recordings
All words by Iain Key. See his author profile here or find him via his LinkTree
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