General Miggs

It’s easy to like General Miggs. As touted on the press release for the four-song Broken Hoof EP, the band have no label, publicist or booking agent. Though they hail from New York City, they resent the "shtick-wielding moratorium” of a music scene there and have tried to garner a more loyal following than is typically granted to a hype-hoarding NYC up-and-comer by playing in lofts, underground parties and other off-the-beaten-path venues. Luckily, General Miggs have some pretty good hooks to back up the showy sincerity. Largely dropping the breathless kinetics of past releases in favour of diverse instrumentation and prettier melodies, Broken Hoof proves an engaging NYC cool down record in the vein of Ambulance Ltd’s debut full-length. The title track is the obvious highlight, an acoustically strummed number buoyed by subtle hints of piano and banjo and kept together by a rolling, tom-heavy drumbeat. The rest of the EP doesn’t offer anything as good, though. "The Crawling Song” follows its winding structure to a cathartic series of breakdowns, each time being revived by a nimble bass line, while the uplifting bridge of "Have a Laugh” manages to mostly make up for the meandering chorus and intro (which sounds far too similar to "Mr. Grieves.”) While suffering from a few half-baked melodies, Broken Hoof is a generally promising release from a band who apparently have principle and potential in equal measure.