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Jenks Miller/James Toth, "Roads to Ruin"
The pairing of Jenks Miller (Horseback) and James Toth (Wooden Wand) makes perfect sense, given both of them work with their own idiosyncratic approaches to southern Americana, resulting in music that is at times familiar and simultaneously unique. On this split release, each artist submitted three songs that are not only some of their most accessible material, but also complement each other wonderfully.
The three songs from Miller unsurprisingly sound like a hybrid of his recent Spirit Signal album and the newest Horseback release."Imperishable Sacred Land" leans a bit more towards his recent solo work, with its lead twanging guitar.A short piece, and even despite the droning organ that slowly slinks its way in, it has a sunnier, less sinister vibe compared to most of his work.
"Have Mercy" works as more of a hybrid piece, with its loose, living drumming and church-like organ giving an almost gospel-pop undercurrent to Miller’s guitar and processed vocals.Due to its overall simplicity and lo-fi sound, it results in a catchy, very natural sounding piece of music."Hats Off to (Roy) Montgomery" leans more into his recent Horseback sound, with haunting, shimmering layers of guitar atop one another.As feedback and dissonant passages slip in, the guitar tone drops down, everything gets darker and simultaneously more captivating.
Toth's side sticks even more to convention, and casually drifts between acoustic folk and country twang."The Sun Shines Brightly on the Road to Ruin" sticks more in the folksy realm, with simple guitar and vocal melodies over a bed of droning shruti box.With its slow pace and sparse structure, there is a dour, yet simultaneously uplifting vibe to it.
The remaining two songs stick a bit more in the realm of country influenced sound, both stripped down and sparse in comparison to "The Sun Shines.""Quicksand Rose" maintains a sad, but not necessarily depressive mood with its slow pace."Remember Me to Stone" has a modernized old country vibe to it, with references to "deleting numbers of dead friends".Here there is more of an emphasis on the vocals in the mix, plus additional backing vocals from Leah Toth to flesh it all out.
Similar in imagery and mood, but equally difficult to classify, Jenks Miller and James Toth are paired perfectly on Roads to Ruin.Compared to their respective discographies, these six songs might not make for their most difficult or challenging works, but are more song oriented and therefore memorable in their occult backwoods country folk ambience.
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