Marc Miner Releases “Last Heroes” 

Marc Miner’s personal journey informs his songwriting art, but no one should confuse his songs for literal autobiography. His European upbringing in Vienna, Austria as a child of American/German descent eventually led to Miner scoring a job on a US-bound container ship and planting his flag in his father’s land of birth. Miner gravitated to the American South but soon faced complications. He ran afoul of the law after discovering a penchant for gambling and later needed his father to pull some strings to free Miner from law enforcement difficulties. Miner returned to Vienna and restarted his life.

It’s led to two albums so far. His first collection Smile When You’re Wasted garnered Miner considerable praise for its hard-bitten songwriting and authentic musical DNA and his new collection Last Heroes builds on that. The eleven-track album spikes the same musical vein Miner explored throughout his debut, but he’s expanded his scope as well. He hasn’t aimed to provide a serviceable follow-up to the first album merely but shows an ambition to move the goalposts for Miner’s art. It’s a resounding success.

The success is evident from the first track. “Sweet Revenge” minces no words with its violent, blood-soaked lyrical tale of a murderous couple’s rampage. The song’s subjects meet a perhaps expected fate, but it’s nonetheless a fearsome ride that Miner portrays with the necessary ruthlessness. The arrangement’s shuffle-pace, lonesome wails of harmonica, and other instrumental adornments add up to a memorable opener for the release.

“Nicki & Bob” is another highlight. This is a character-driven piece Miner structures around the affecting misadventures of two small-town outcasts. His narrative is episodic rather than linear and, naturally, can only convey so much in its limited time. Miner, nevertheless, chooses his significant details well. The twangy bite of the song’s lead guitar snakes through the song with a confident stride and the deliberate tempo helps highlight Miner’s vocals. “Last Hero’s Gone” is an up-tempo romp built around another hard-luck narrative. He brings a different tone to the vocals than in previous songs which illustrates the elasticity of his singing.

His rugged paean to a small-time criminal’s dreams of outlaw glory, “Hero of Laredo”, is unquestionably Last Heroes’ most involved bit of storytelling. It continues leaning on a classic country sound that sustains several of the album’s songs and framing the story within another brisk musical arrangement gives it further dramatic zest. “Heavy Bones” has obvious rock inclinations, especially surrounding its emphatic chorus, but its biggest debt extends to blues music. Miner’s vocal doubles down on that influence with its grit and gravitas.

“Cheer Me Up Cause I’m Leaving” closes Last Heroes with heartbroken songwriting excellence. Miner sustains the entertaining sway he establishes early on, and it helps add a semi-playful overtone to the song’s message. There’s a sense of weary resignation shrouding the song’s mood. Concluding the album in such a way affords a glimpse into where Miner’s songwriting is going from here and it’s impossible to not hear the evidence of development to come.

Samuel Pratt