There's a long, rich tradition of power pop groups being obsessed with teenage girls (
the Scruffs even named an album
Teenage Gurls). But you'd be hard-pressed to find a band whose mania for the adolescent female matched that of
Milk 'N' Cookies. On their first (and only) album, 1975's
Milk 'N' Cookies, the Long Island band sounded like some vaguely lascivious fusion of U.K. glam rock guitars, stripped-down rock & roll stomp, and the preening style of
the Bay City Rollers. However, while
the Rollers at least tried to play as nice boys, lead singer
Justin Strauss was all breathy, sexually ambiguous pout as he made it clear he had something very special in mind for his female fans.
Strauss' doe-eyed stage whisper astounds on "Little, Lost and Innocent," "Chance to Play," "Not Enough Girls (In the World)," and the truly remarkable "Rabbits Make Love." In their way,
Milk 'N' Cookies were every bit as subversive as
the New York Dolls and as blatant as
Kiss. But their outrage was dressed up in hooky pop tunes with crunchy guitar figures and an attack that was a few shades away from punk rock. (The latter comes as no surprise, as the CBGB scene was emerging in New York around the same time.)
Ian North's songs were genuinely inspired more often than not, while his guitar work would have done
the Sweet proud. And bassist Sal Miada and drummer Mike Ruiz gave these tracks the heavy stomp they needed and deserved. There might have been a place for
Milk 'N' Cookies on the new wave and power pop scenes that took hold a few years after their album came out. But in 1975, this album was a witty and deliberately eccentric cult item that still sounds gloriously weird more than four decades later. Perfect for your next teen dance; just see to it these guys don't put an aspirin in someone's cola. ~ Mark Deming