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Trinary System — The Hard Machine
(Cuneiform Rune 540, 2025, CD / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2026-01-13

The Hard Machine Cover art

This latest release featuring Roger Clark Miller sees him returning to a group format after a couple of solo guitar albums. In fact, it has more in common with Mission of Burma than most of his other projects, being an honest-to-goodness rock band. As the name Trinary System implies, The Hard Machine was recorded by a trio: Miller on guitar, vocals, and assorted other instruments, Larry Dersch on drums, and Andrew Willis on bass, vocals, and electronics. Miller is the songwriter, and he gives a set of eight tracks that don’t adhere to a particular style — he says Trinary System is “a way to free his guitar playing from the confines of a post-punk environment.” Some of the songs have punkish drive and energy, but others are more jangly and melodic. One thing all of them have in common is a tendency for unexpected chord changes and off-kilter rhythms. Not that it’s mathy, but there are lots of places where the accents do not come where you expect them. “On the Ground (Complete the Circle)” is a group composition that ventures into noisy improvisation, resulting in an eerie dirge at odds with energetic songs like “Monkeys (on Your Back),” “Pop!” and “The Golem.” The Hard Machine is a great set of songs, no matter how you want to label them, and I hope there’s more to come from this group.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Roger Clark Miller, Trinary System

More info
http://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com/album/the-hard-machine

 

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