The V-roys - Creative Loafing, Oct 26, 1996

Creative Loafing, October 26, 1996

The V-roys Just Add Ice E-Squared Records There has been a minor buzz about the V-roys going around for a white. as. they are the first signees to the label created by country-rocker Steve Earle and Nashville manager/svengali Jack Emerson (Jason & the Scorchers, The Georgia Satellites). Scott Miller, who sings,, plays guitar and writes the majority d the band's material,, is well known to a number of Star Bar regulars' as a participant In several Bubbapaloozas, but chiefly as a solo act. While the V-roys retain a lot of his lyrical wit, the music is much different than his earlier work. The band is an energetic quartet, with a strong sense of their own identity; but with a history of influence that seems more connected to the New Wave stylings of Graham Parker, Joe Jackson, and 'Armed Forces'-era Costello than anything from their native Tennessee. There is also a '60s Invasion pop sensibility that gives the album a diverse but somehow thematically focused aura.

Miller's songs have always managed to paint clear pictures of characters and their misadventures, and his skills are now directed more toward the subjectivity of experiences. While he retains his sense of humor, he also exposes the more serious side of his observations. Originally a sort of demented folk-rocker, Miller is now mixing styles on tunes such as the jumping "Sooner or Later" , a sort of hybridized honky-tonk punk song. Even the ballads retain the tongue in cheek attitude of the band's early '80s influences, for example, the almost touching "Good Night Loser" and the lament of a "Pounding Heart." In spite of their claims to be a "good time band", the V-roys have the ability to make you think while you dance and their debut album is fine example of both their respect for the past and their creativity.

James Kelly

The V-roys perform at the Star Bar on Saturday, Oct. 26 with the Continentals.