Steel Miners – Irony – Review

Steel Miners

Irony (Double Deuce)
by Jon Sarre

“You know our steel/It built this town,” goes a line from “Steel Miner’s Blues.” It rings true, in fact it’s the truest line sung in 1996. It’s a boast, y’know, kinda like “Quality Built in America” used to be. By the same token, there’s sadness in that, cos the mills don’t hum in the Steel Miners‘ hometown of Pittsburgh, PA and when was the last time you patted yourself on the back for buyin’ that Chevy?

I think that if the Steel Miners had their way, America would still be musclin’ aside the competition. No joke, their name says it all, “Steel Miners;” sweat, heat and labor. They’re not playin’ out for the easy platinum soft-boy life, no way. They’re blue-collar throwbacks to the guys who slaved in the mills and pits all day and then threw back shots all night. They’re characters in all those Springsteen songs, you know, the people Bruce must see from his limo window.

Okay, in reality, the Steel Miners probably haven’t held “real jobs” in years (but I’d wager they know their way around a bar or two). It’s that kinda feel though: particularly inept garage rock, chemically addled sloppy three-power-chord gems that bleed raw power in two minute bursts; “Nuggets” is what they’re mining. Sure, that may make their steel recycled, but who’s got the new alloys? Buy Steel, save America!