Since the release of their debut, Adopt-A-Throwaway, in April of 2004, Brooklyn band General Miggs spent no time away from the writing process. With the addition of guitarist and horn player Josh Dillard, the group went into the studio during the first months of 2005 and emerged with their currently unreleased six song demo.

With its dynamic energy, 6 Songs is clearly a descendant of General Miggs’ earlier work on Adopt-A-Throwaway and the BC Records Compilation. In the place of noisier jams and strained vocals of the previous releases, however, is an increased presence of musical drama as well as the occasional segment featuring vocal harmonies.

I have no way of knowing just how much the addition of Dillard affected the band’s approach to songwriting, but opening track "The Crawling Song" includes a heavy dose of the new member’s horn playing. Whether it is trilled notes, an overarching melody, or simply reinforcing the rhythmic punches present on the track, the horn offers a distinguishing sound that manages to carry over even on tracks that don’t prominently feature the instrument.

"Broken Hoof" and "Have a Laugh" carry a somewhat similar sound to that presented in "The Crawling Song", but those longing for the bands somewhat more raucous sound will find solace with the final tracks of 6 Songs "Marco + Frankie" and "The Shyest Girl in the World". Ultimately, 6 Songs is the work of a band still exploring its capabilities and they are clearly capable of crafting some engaging compositions. It will be interesting to see how they evolve as they build a body of work for their next full-length.