If Rob I. Miller’s new band Me At The Zoo shows where things are heading, In On It captures a different moment. This was recorded during a stretch of upheaval, a parent passing, a child being born, a cross-country move, and the future of Blues Lawyer up in the air.
Together with bandmate Ellen Matthews, Miller quietly put these seven songs to tape. They now surface as an EP on Take a Turn Records. There’s plenty of guitar goodness here. Matthews plays with the same kind of complementary feel she brings to Blues Lawyer, while Miller handles the songwriting and most everything else. You can hear the influence of alt giants like Dando, Mould, Fox, and Westerberg in the mix, but it never feels like imitation. The songs land with warmth, melody, and a soft kind of melancholia.
It’s not a huge leap to picture these as demos and song ideas for a new Blues Lawyer record, but they hold their own space. A bit more inward, a bit more fragile, and all the more compelling because of it.
No idea if Rob & Ellen will return or if this stands alone, but there’s definitely an audience for this kind of pull.
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