Based in Hull during the mid to late ’80s, art school trio Death By Milkfloat honed their juxtaposed musical stylings. Their frenetic sound was like a British art punk take on the Minutemen and I released their debut album on my Vinyl Drip label. I had first met their elastic fingered bass player way back in 1984 at a party in Bishops Stortford, where he promised he was going to start a band – not an idle threat but an impassioned promise that resulted in something quite wonderful.
Anchored together by Art college aesthetic, and collective support from Hull’s ‘golden hour’ music scene Death By Milfloat gave reflection to the creative drive of those times.
In 1986 a squeaky cassette found its way into John Peel’s in-tray, and it wasn’t long before DBM became a regular part of the Peel Acres furniture, or “Straight in at number 6 in my heart” as the DJ claimed.
May 2026 sees the Bandcamp release of their 2 John Peel sessions on Vinyl / Lossless download.
https://deathbymilkfloat.bandcamp.com
Recorded in Maida Vale 1987 / 88, the sessions reflect an impassioned relationship between 3 disparate musicians following the well-trodden Art School to, -post punk, -post rock, -post jazz, -post-post trail.
Simultaneously released is their ‘lost’ album ‘Processed’. Recorded at Fairview studios, Hull 1989/90, a special package double CD combines the original unreleased album with their 1991 single ‘Rule & Thumb’. Nursing dusty 2” Masters back from the brink offered the opportunity to breathe fresh life into these recordings.
The resulting mixes truly capture the band’s ‘real’ intuitive sound into 2026.
Take Advice 002.
Together, they document the progression that Milkfloat made over their short, proactive existence, and reflect a creativity attuned to those lost times. One can only speculate what their next music/art advance could have come to….
The albums are dedicated to Paul ‘Jacko’ Jackson 1954-2026. Proprietor of The New Adelphi Club,
Hull. DBM raise a collective ‘Jungle Juice’ in his memory.
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