H. E. Miller’s “Your Time Will Come” is his sophomore effort and the roots rocker, like a fine wine, seems to be improving with age. While the ten tracks may not veer far from the classic rock I, IV, V chord progressions that launched many early rock careers, what Miller appears to lack in experimentation he makes up passion.
“Apocalyptic Dreams”, his freshman release, was reviewed for this publication by my former Hot Indie News colleague Tweek Ferrete back in December of 2009. Before writing this review I decided to dig around in the Hot Indie News archives library to see if I could locate a copy of his long lost debut CD. Lo and behold, sitting on the 3rd shelf from the top was a dust covered jewel case with the CD still intact. I’m glad I did because it produces a good starting point to describe the arc of this singer/songwriter’s style.
Out of the two records the first is certainly the more retro sounding of the lot. Miller seems to have loosened up a lot since recording his previous release and appears to be having a lot more fun with the writing. Unlike “Apocalyptic Dreams”, which was embedded with spiritual ponderings upon existence, “Your Time Will Come” is more relaxed, humorous and spontaneous. This works to his advantage on his second release and allows the artist to execute (forgive the pun) songs like “Axe Murderer” with a more whimsical tongue-in-cheek approach than the more serious songs on the 2009 CD such as “The Human Race” and “Strike the Earth”.
This new record’s 2nd track, levitra in mexico titled “The Age of Rap” takes a poke or two at the direction of today’s music and the industry that attempts to control it. Especially nice on this song are the layered backup vocals that pay homage to Beach Boy like harmonies on the “Come on down…” chorus. It’s a clever juxtaposition to the subject matter of the lyrics and results in providing the listener with the scoop on an inside joke.
Track 3, “Avengers Assemble”, is a call to arms to all to let your hair down and rock until you drop. Most notable on this tune is knife-sharp lead guitar that, although buried a little low in the mix, still succeeds as a tip-of-the-hat to early acid rock. It’s fair to say that Miller’s not the next Jimi Hendrix, but he does turn out some tasty licks on his axe.
Wrapping up the affair is the aptly titled “The End”. It’s a bit of a twist and a turn with the traditional 12 bar blues structure with a touch of 1970’s Rolling Stones seasoning. The synth pad on which the well picked acoustic guitar rests adds a nice trippyness to the overall mix.
The road musicians like H. E. Miller walk is a hard one. Guys like this play the music they love and not the music the entertainment industry tries to shove down everyone’s throat. Overall, guys like Miller aren’t as concerned with breaking new ground as they are with honoring a tradition. Even the title of this record has been used in the past (sorry, but I can’t help but to suggest something like “It’s Miller Time!” for his 3rd release). All in all I must say to this artist that he should just hang in there and keep making records. Because one day I’m sure, (here it comes – are you ready for this?) your “Time Will Come”.
