Production history
Scott Miller was persuaded by 125 Records to record the album, which was his final work to be released before his death in 2013. Miller had considered releasing it under his own name with Barbeau; however, at the label's request, the album was credited to "The Loud Family and Anton Barbeau," to avoid confusion between Miller and a similarly named country musician.
According to CV Weekly , "Anton Barbeau first crossed paths with Scott during the Game Theory years. At his third Game Theory show, he managed to slip a cassette of his own music to the drummer, who passed it on to Scott. They struck up a lasting friendship when Scott called to praise Anton’s music.... His collaboration with Scott came about rather organically when the pair played together at Sacramento’s True Love Coffeehouse." [2]
Miller and Barbeau divided the songwriting chores evenly on the record, each contributing four original songs, with one co-written song. [2] The album also includes covers of "Rocks Off" by The Rolling Stones, "I Think I See the Light" by Cat Stevens, and "Remember You" by The Zombies. [3]
Previous members of the Loud Family returned for the album, with drummer Jozef Becker and bass player Kenny Kessel playing on most of the tracks, and drummer Gil Ray and keyboard player Alison Faith Levy making a single appearance.
2022 reissue
Omnivore Recordings, which reissued Miller's recordings with the band Game Theory, announced a March 2022 reissue of What If It Works?, featuring eleven bonus tracks, of which ten were previously unissued. [4] The packaging of the reissue features photos, a conversation between Barbeau and Scott's widow Kristine Miller about the making of the record, and a new essay by musician and Tony-winning playwright Stew. [4] [5]
Critical reception
The Sacramento Bee called the album "a mixture of sweet pop and jangly rock," as if "the Beatles were covered by the Replacements." [6]
A review by Jen Grover found the Miller/Barbeau pairing to be "stylistically different yet strangely complementary," pointing to a contrast in "I Think I See the Light" between Miller's "deliciously sexy" vocals and Barbeau's comparatively "grating and nasal" vocals which nonetheless lent "gritty honesty to the arrangement." [7] Miller's "Don't Bother Me While I'm Living Forever," his last to be written for the album, was described as "achingly pretty and dreamingly swirly... its echoey, interlacing guitar and melancholy melody taking it into shoegaze territory." [7]
USA Today described What If It Works? as a "terrific album... by one of underground pop-rock's best-kept secrets, the Loud Family." [8]
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[1] 