Vinny Miller - On The Block

Schizophrenic; that is maybe the best way I can describe this album. Vinny Miller is an English lad signed to 4AD records, as a bit of an off beat artist. Described as “operating on a field of one”, his songs are simple yet complex; featuring an acoustic guitar, but layered with many cursory instruments. After some compilation tracks, his debut albums comes out with a bit of anticipation, but unfortunately it would have been wise to trim the fat before releasing this into the world. On The Block suffers from one basic flaw; it is unfocused and scattered. Amongst the quality tracks are weird little pieces that bring nothing to the album and only make you scratch your head. Opening with “The Yes/No Game”, a vocal conversation caught on tape, you think “what’s the point of tracks like this?” and you start to wonder what you got yourself into. “Breaking Out Of Your Arms” eases the doubts with a nice acoustic lo-fi affair to get you set, and “Roll Complete” and “Pigpen” (the first single) continue with a good outing. Then “Cromagno” comes on… Seriously Vinny, what is this? Two cavemen having sex and singing? Surviving that is just the first in the ear Olympics. The next event is “Afternoon Nod”, a spacey piano piece that is aimless and much longer than it needs to be, followed by “Bogeyeater” another psycho rambling that at times comes to a direction, but then wonders again. Lastly we get “Millalude”; which sounds like someone is trying singing while gargling and the results are about what you would expect. Taking a break amongst the aforementioned, we get “Bagged and Tagged”, a nice and laid back track with a bit of a Pearl Jam vocal/harmony feel to it at times. “Hogbreath Busts A Move” is more of a focused track that showcases some potential if the artist would just shoot towards something with a bullet instead of a shotgun, scattering all about. The bright side is that the album ends pretty nicely. “Alioth” is sparse but tight, one of the strongest songs on the album, and “On The Block” ends the album on a high note again with a touch of Pearl Jam-esque melodic vocal sound. Unfortunately the dark side wins in this battle, and the album as a whole falls short. Although most of the “songs” on the album are decent enough and show potential, the other tracks really take away from the work. It is like a really good bowl of soup with a few flies in it. Sure the soup is pretty good, but who would order that? [www.vinnymiller.com]