Songwriter and raconteur Scott Lavene returns with his second album Milk City Sweethearts. 11 songs (41 min, 19 sec) that mix wry observation, humble wisdom, unguarded vulnerability and unpredictable humour in a potent cocktail of loose-limbed post-punk and arch beat poetry. With everyday stories of narratives of love, loss, coming-of-age but also so much more, Lavene spins them all with a refreshingly blunt honesty and a left-handed brilliance that will invite repeated plays. A warm, witty, charismatic record with a dark heart at its centre...

Scott Lavene follows up his 2019 debut, Broke, with another collection of songs that take a wry look at modern life. He'll make you laugh, he'll make you reflect on society and he might just make you reevaluate your priorities in life.

The songs are catchy and memorable and you'll be drawn to both the music and his poetic delivery. If you don't at least smile at the majority of these tracks, then it's pretty safe to conclude you don't have a sense of humour, or you're not self-aware... or you're dead.

I loved the fact that, while an insightful, thought proving track, 'The First Time' is also one long build up to a punchline.

If you enjoyed Lavene's debut, this is more of the same... but slightly more confident.

9

Nick Smithson