On Flat Tired’s new single “Wait Just a Minute,” Griffin Miller sings in a mellow baritone that manages to sound both world-weary and matter-of-fact. There’s plenty of melancholy there to be sure, but it’s tempered by a kind of aww-shucks fatalism that helps take out some of the sting. That air of quiet resignation lingers throughout the track, working its way into every moody chord and twangy Telecaster lick. The group’s dusty, sepia-toned country is nothing if not transportive, and here they manage to evoke a distant past populated by modest family farms and roadside honky tonks.
Like some of the most enduring country music, “Wait Just a Minute” isn’t cryptically oblique. Narratively, it’s about someone who causes unnecessary strife with their partner by constantly misplacing their belongings or forgetting to follow through on everyday obligations—not exactly the stuff of grand epics. But Miller’s worn-down croon hints at something more complicated and, ultimately, human. “My head is empty, honey, there’s no doubt / When I think of you all the rest just falls out,” he sings towards the end. Depending on your take, it’s either a sincere pronouncement of love or yet another entry in a long line of tired excuses.
Meanwhile, the band’s calm, unhurried approach helps accentuate the song’s homespun charm. But that doesn’t meant there aren’t outbursts of color and drama. Spiraling out of the second verse, a languid pedal steel lead careens gently into a twinkling guitar solo. Together, they feel tender, beautiful, and warm—an alluring contrast to the track’s sad cycle of forgetfulness and frustration. Maybe, just maybe, love is worth all those tiny hassles after all.
Listen below.
Flat Tired will perform on Sat., Dec. 14 at the Garden Club alongside Del Roscoe and Suede Cassidy. Doors open at 7 p.m. All ages.
More Info
Bandcamp: flattired.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @FlatTiredBand
Instagram: @flat.tired_band
SoundCloud: @flat-tired-demos