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On Robert Millers’ newest album, Miller Rocks, we find the musician at his most laid back. Starting off with the energetic drum-heavy “Right Now”, Miller makes it very clear what he’s about in a way that bleeds over to the rest of the album, making the most of the time we have together. In “Right Now” he uses that to explore feelings of wanting to be with someone who’s implied to maybe not the best, but you still want them because of what things can be. Miller strikes me as an optimist because with the rare exception on the tracks here, they’re all bursting with joy and personality.
Take for example “The Birds”, one of the more mellow songs on the tracks that emphasizes Millers incredibly soothing voice that never puts you to sleep, but keeps you in a constant state of comfort as he sings about letting the bad times go in favor of a better time spent with someone who cares about you. In the same way, I imagine people write off a character like Superman for being too optimistic and sincere in a dark “real” world, Miller is just so earnest you can’t help but become the romantic heart-filled soul with him. Everyone in the instrumental department is working at their peak and they’re all mixed to perfection with some particularly standout drum and guitar performances from Joel E. Mateo and Tristan Clark respectively. If I had any major issues it’s that the last two tracks on the album, “You’re My Friend” a much more pseudo honky-tonk, twangy southern-inspired diddy, and closer “Labor Day” which is more a kind of surf rock jam, while both excellent songs on their own, kind of feel slightly out of place on the album.
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There’s not much else in the genre departments on this album that match up with those songs, and “Labor Day” experiments with a certain vocal delivery that is intentionally disjointed that while endearing and will maybe catch the average listener off guard for a moment, still stands out like a sore thumb in comparison to the opening track, the middle instrumental heavy “African Nights” and even the classy upper elite but bouncy sounding “My Baby”. If anything, the best things those tracks display is Millers’ range and I would really love to see him explore these sounds on an entire album more thematically in line with them. Miller is an undeniable talent, and you can tell he’s probably not the type to take himself too seriously without compromising the quality of his work which remains sharp and even when the lyrics are pretty straight forward, “Fire all of your rockets, light them up and leave me alone”, there’s this kind of vintage throwback quality that feels fresh but without feeling like a derivative retread of other people’s work. You can feel shades of bands like NRBQ or even the Charlie Steinmann Orchestra, but Millers’ voice is so distinct and I guarantee you you’ll wanna rock with Miller again and again.
by Wyatt Kennedy
