Pointed Accounts Of People You Know

One year after Blaze Of Glory, Game Theory made a proper release with the six song mini-LP Pointed Accounts Of People You Know.

I remember this EP being advertised and reviewed in Trouser Press, so it was a much higher profile release than Blaze Of GloryBoG with the addition of drummer Dave Gill, who replaced Michael Irwin. This was probably a net gain for Game Theory, but 25 years later, Dave's kettle drums give some 1980s carbon dating to many of their timeless early songs.

The first side of Pointed Accounts has three of my favorite songs by Scott Miller: "Penny, Things Won't", "Metal and Glass Exact", and "Selfish Again". These songs are all top-drawer, played and performed nearly flawlessly by the new band. The three songs on side two are more problematic. Two of them ("37th Day" and "I Wanna Get Hit By A Car") were written by bassist Fred Juhos, and another ("Life In July" was co-written by keyboardist Nancy Becker. Not bad, but definitely the b-side of the EP.

Scott Miller's attempts at band democracy are admirable, but Fred's songs and Scott's songs mix like single malt Scotch and Mountain Dew. The Trouser Press Guide says "Juhos' vision is darker and more intriguing, but he isn't Miller's equal as a tunesmith".

Here's the Miller/Juhos/Becker/Gill version of Game Theory performing "Penny, Things Won't" at the Berkeley Square in 1984, putting to rest the rumor that they weren't a very good live band.