Any
Game Theory fan who bought the 1990 career retrospective
Tinker to Evers to Chance (Selected Highlights 1982-1989) knows that
Scott Miller formed a fresh edition of the band after the lineup that recorded 1988's
Two Steps from the Middle Ages fell apart, even recording new versions of two early
GT tracks for the collection. However, what happened after that has been a mystery to most followers of
Miller and his music; little evidence of the activities of the last days of
Game Theory surfaced, and none seemed forthcoming. That abruptly changed with the 2020 release of
Across the Barrier of Sound: Postscript, an anthology that brings together studio recordings, demos, and live tracks from the 1989-1990 version of
Game Theory, with
Miller joined by
Gil Ray, who previously played drums with
GT, on guitar and keyboards;
Jozef Becker, who worked with
Miller in his pre-
GT group
Alternate Learning, on drums; and
Michael Quercio, formerly of
the Three O'Clock, on bass. (The LP release features 14 songs, with ten more added on digital editions.) Only three of these tracks -- "Treat It Like My Own," "Rose of Sharon," and "Water" -- have been previously released, and those only on cassettes handed out to members of the
Game Theory fan club. There are full-bodied studio takes of "My Free Ride," "Idiot Son," and "Inverness" here, but most of this material is drawn from demos
Miller recorded at home. The full-band recordings are the work of a leaner, more concise
Game Theory, with far less reliance on keyboards and punchier, more straightforward drumming, especially on the live recording of "The Door Into Summer" (which
Quercio jokingly introduces as a song by
Naked Eyes, while
Miller patiently tells the crowd it was actually by
the Monkees). As for the demos, many of the songs will be familiar to fans of
Miller's later project,
the Loud Family, as he repurposed most of them for their debut album, 1992's
Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things.
Miller's home-brewed recordings may lack the power of the
Loud Family arrangements, but his songs appear fully formed, and even if the lyrics changed on a few of these songs, the rough drafts capture the magic of his melodies and the excellence of his guitar work with true eloquence. And it speaks to
Miller's distinct vision that the three songs co-written with
Quercio have a noticeably different personality, not necessarily jarring but clearly different from the others; while never shy about citing his influences,
Miller really didn't sound much like his peers.
Across the Barrier of Sound: Postscript was assembled from scraps and cast-offs, but it coheres almost as well as one of
Miller's proper albums, and this music is a joyous yet powerful reminder of how much we lost when
Miller died in 2013. If you ever enjoyed his work, you'll revel in this. ~ Mark Deming
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