Sarah Persephona with her band angelic milk wrote two of the most perfect pop songs that almost no one has heard. Listening to “Rebel Black” and “Some Boys Are Beautiful Girls” from the 2016 EP – “Teenage Movie Soundtrack” will produce pleasure sensations in your brain quicker than any amphetamine. So it was with bated breath that we waited for the debut record – “Divine Biker Love” recently released on the excellent Swedish label PNKSLM Recordings.
angelic milk originally began as a bedroom project in Saint Petersburg, Russia for the teenage songwriter. She uploaded her demos as a 6-song EP called “Pale” to Bandcamp and was quickly picked up by PNKSLM who released the first single “IDK How” in 2015 and the phenomenal EP “Teenage Movie Soundtrack” in 2016.
Persephona is blessed with the innate talent to write hook filled pop songs enveloped in a sad face grungey shoegaze drone dreamworld and “Divine Biker Love” adds even another layer to that.
The 10-track record definitely pays homage to the 90s and there’s even a catchy nugget called “Winona”. Whether or not it is about the iconic 90s star, I don’t know, but it sounds like it could’ve been on the “Reality Bites” soundtrack. The first two tracks “Helluva Dr.” and “BALL GAG KI$$” have a late 90s Toilet Böys vibe or for a more recent comparison, the grunge-glam of Starcrawler. All with with killer hooks of course and even though the 90s feel is alive, these tracks send a clear message: don’t put angelic milk in a corner!
“when the limousines pass by” is a perfect example of the shoegazing dreamworld Persephona lives in with its lush pop while “acid & coca-cola” is a dark and menacing gothic swirl. angelic milk do not just pull grunge and shoegaze from the 90s though, I sense an affinity for anything Tanya Donelly touched. Molecules of Throwing Muses, Belly, or The Breeders can be heard if you listen close enough. “Black Flamingo Motel” is a crunchier version of a Belly song like “Feed the Trees“, while “Celebrate” is a swaying ethereal pop gem and along with the bedroom pop of “trust no 1” would feel at home on The Breeders “Last Splash.” Where “Divine Biker Love” came in like a lion the album goes out like a lamb with the whisper quiet “crimson spots on pale pink silk” and the creepy waltz of “Agnes De Lux“.
This is an exceptional debut from a talent to watch.
