ADD Records is back! Jah bless the great ship ADD Records, captained by one Dave Disorder (Too Many Daves etc. etc.). After a major downturn in productivity for reasons related to Covid and political and economic upheaval in the old US of A, Dave and the much loved ADD Records are back. Which brings us to the matter at hand: the debut LP from The Miller Lowlifes, ‘Pinch Hitters’.
“But who are The Miller Lowlifes, Tony?” pipes up a voice at the back of the room. Well, they are based out of Tampa Bay, Florida and feature the talents of Joe Paez (Too Many Daves, drums), Matt (guitar and cuss words, of Madison Bloodbath), Richie Lawler (Big Sad, Vaginasore Jr and a million others, guitar / vox), Mario (bass / vox, who admittedly I’m having trouble pinning down). The big takeaway from this pile of info is that we are talking about the cream of the “orgcore” crop. That’s already enough to get me excited, but with the ever-reliable ADD Records thrown into the mix, obviously we’re all in for a treat. The Miller Lowlifes have been around in one form or another since about 2022, but seemingly it’s about time the rest of us found out…
“So what does it sound like?”. Thank you sir, for that most pertinent of questions. We’ve got raspy, snotty, sneering vocals which immediately recall the likes of Dillinger Four, Monikers, Jason Shevchuk (Kid Dynamite, None More Black) and Brendan Kelly (The Lawrence Arms, The Falcon). We’ve got those drunken sweatbox punk show back-up vocals replete with the woahs right where and when you need ’em (‘Woah is Me’ haha!). We’ve got the core of the instrumentation pulling from similar pools to Dear Landlord, Tiltwheel and Dan Padilla amongst others: precariously teetering along that very exciting line between dangerously tight and drunken buffoonery.
This little epiphet from closing track ‘I’m A Lowlife, Baby’ sums up the vibe much better than I could: “Miserable and broke; ambition’s gone; I don’t think I can change. You shine in this dim lit room, with that beer and those tattoos and a smile on your face”. The subtextual message that seems to underscore the whole record is one of finding escape through songs and music that speak to you and give you that much needed ray of optimism to lift your ass out of the generalised wreckage and morass of low-key misery and working class malaise that is, if you are anything like me, doubtless an accurate analogy for your life. Raising your voice with your friends in a frenzy of cheap beer and bar snack consumption in accompaniment to the soundtrack of your life (such as it is). Clever people probably refer to this shit as life-affirmingly cathartic. I can’t say they’d be wrong. “You might take my body, but you’ll never take my pride; this is just the tale of the stale beer dives” (Dive).
If you are in the mood for acerbic self-scrutiny and viewing the world through a jaundice coloured lens (face it – how could you not be?), then chuck on your old Cleveland Bound Death Sentence t-shirt, your sweat-stained Witches With Dicks trucker hat and take it from me, that this album gets better and better with each listen. Here’s to terrible lifestyle choices and ennui on a grand scale.
Tony of Nurgle rating 10/10
You can tie yourself down one of these fine hogs from:
Little Rocket Records in the UK
ADD Records in the US
Bandcamp: https://millerlowlifes.bandcamp.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themillerlowlifes/
