Misty Miller – Girlfriend EP Review

Plying a brand of unflinchingly stripped-back and straight-up Americana, Misty Miller’s first EP on UK label Relentless offers a 20-odd minute set of tunes for the traditionalist. The EP keeps things simple both in terms of composition and instrumentation: Miller’s schtick draws on classic rock, blues, garage and country, taking the fundamental ideas and delivering them in low-concept singer songwriter style.

Opener ‘Girlfriend’ opens with a garage riff very reminiscent of The Sonics’ ‘The Witch’, Miller’s vaguely Carl Barat vocals bemoaning the woes of a “working girl” like herself. Setting a fairly high-energy precedent, it’s followed by ‘Do You Know What I Mean’ and its loud/quiet structuring of barrelling drums and surf-country guitar.

Taking a turn for the sombre with ‘The Devil’, Miller muses on vaguely biblical themes to the backing of a bare-bones country rock-ballad. It might be hard for some to buy into a tale of world-weariness delivered by an eighteen year old, but even a cursory listen to Miller’s EP ought to make it clear to the listener: whatever enjoyment is to be derived from this recording, it’s unlikely to derive from paying too close an attention to its lyrical content.

‘Little Drummer Boy’ – while demonstrating most clearly the tendency seen across the EP for guitar work to fall on the sloppy side of basic – has a plodding insistency that lends the tune character. Paired with ‘Lonesome Cowboy’ to form the EP’s closing pair, the pace quickens after the mid-track lull without returning to the energy of the opening, which gives the track progression a logical feel to its flow.

The Girlfriend EP is an extremely simple affair, which will be what draws some listeners in: a fairly unassuming take on classic rock’n’roll sounds – framed around Miller’s easily digested musical persona – will be just what some music fans are looking for. The lack of complexity will for some, however, translate into a lack of character.

Girlfriend is out February 25.

Tagged blues, carl barat, classic rock, country, Girlfriend, little drummer boy, lonesome cowboy, Misty MIller, Relentless, singer songwriter, the devil, The Sonics, the witch, working girl