Indie Music Album Reviews

turk tresize - Miles 'n' Miles

10/25/2013

Turk Tresize

Miles 'N' Miles
Dairy Shed Records; 2013

3.9 out of 5

By Sean Dennison

Miles 'n' Miles was a surprising listen for me. Or rather I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it. I'll never completely disparage an entire genre but southern-sensibilities rock and roll doesn't really do it for me. But Turk Tresize is on to something. It has a slight novelty value, since Tresize grew up in Australia, but the album was recorded in Nashville, TN.

The EP is five tracks of lovingly crafted, soused-up electrified, countrified tales of loss, deprivation, perseverance and love is somewhere in there (of women, of whiskey…). Tresize's voice is a twilight cocktail of the last shot of happy hour and the first lover's spat when you drive back home. He's usually aggressive, but can tone it down no problem. "Direction" captured my attention with Tresize's gentle but stout delivery. He even breaks his voice in the chorus, and his voice is an ear-catching contrast to the background vocal harmonies.

The music is just as great, Tresize is very skilled at guitar playing, and his ear for musical structure is just as adroit. The title track is a shuffling, quiet number that draws its strengths from Tresize's voice over dusty, scrubbed guitar chords and slight percussion. "Karma Wisdom" is more bombastic, using more instruments and producing more of a hard rock sound. "Wasted" follows suit, but it’s the final track, "West On Train” featuring Brittany Howard that solidifies my enjoyment of this album. It is a blistering, raw number that uses searing guitar licks, bar room percussion, and the impressive counter voice of Howard. Together she and Tresize spin an escapist yarn you won't soon forget, even getting some Rolling Stones musicality toward the final minute of the track.

Again, Miles 'n' Miles was a pleasantly surprising listen. I should try this open-minded thing a bit more often.