The cover of 'Cerberus' could almost be mistaken for that of a doom metal album. Its blackness is broken only by plain white text and an etching depicting some strange demonic beast. I'm assuming that would be the Cerberus, then, a three-headed hound which, according to Greek and Roman mythology, guards the gates of Hades to prevent those who have crossed the river Styx from ever escaping.
Scary stuff, then. Trent Miller's music isn't anywhere near as terrifying, or as likely to become integral to any legend. He describes his music as 'gothic country music,' and it's a fairly fitting description for his sparsely arranged acoustic ditties which draw on elements of blues and country and through which Trent paints a picture that's less than beautiful, but nevertheless compelling.
The titles give a reasonable indication of Miller's favoured themes and subjects: 'Dark River,' 'Hangman Shore,' 'Tombstone Eyes,' 'Hellbound Train,' 'Six Feet Under.' I don't see much mirth on the cards here. Many of the compositions are slow and melancholic, minor chords plucked in a languid despondency, and even those that are more sprightly sounding harbour dark lyrics as Miller picks at the scabs of humanity and peers into the abyss of his tortured soul. Death and decay are never far away, and Trent's funereal fixations are often directed toward himself: 'Come meet me at the gallows, my body will swing by a rope,' he croaks on 'Coyote.'
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It's a sickness, and if Miller appears to consider himself unworthy of life, his self-loathing ('don't trust me when I'm bleeding, wait until my heart stops beating,' he warns on 'Scream Your Last Scream') is only equal to the disdain he has for the rest of the world around him: 'Everything is rotting here, everything is rotten to the core,' he complains on 'Bones of Milk.'
A laugh a minute it isn't, but Miller's gruff, gravelly vocals and eloquent lyrics do draw the listener in. According to the press release, Trent is already recording a second album with The Skeleton Jive. If it's a hit, he might just find himself being invited to deliver a few vox-pops for a future series of 'Grumpy Old Men.'
Trent Miller & The Skeleton Jive on MySpace
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