This is great stuff done by guys who clearly know what the hell they are doing with their instruments. It's heavy yet accessible and dark but penetrable. Beats some of the atonal dark stuff I have to review. A welcome solo offering from the Candlemass veteran that is for sure. Perfect fodder for the next time the weather and the time of year gets you down.
The Trews: No Time For Later
The Trews are yet another one of those type of Canadian exports that many people know and love, but probably couldn’t name. They have that wonderful Canuck take on North American rock music that is quite special. Like The Tea Party, this lot take the normal hard pop rock and put a nice maple veneer on it. Unlike some of the other Canuck exports in the pop world, they don’t make you want to kill your radio. Fun with a great deal of rocking edge to them.
Some tunes would remind an American of Buckcherry with slightly less LA and sleaze. Then, of course, they come along with a rootsy tune like “ I Feel the Rain” which its Hammond P3 laid back vibe. English listeners might sense a touch of Quireboys about the place as well. Just when you think you're comfortable with that, they come along and rock out with something like “Hold Me in Your Arms” which despite the title is not a power ballad. Steeped in Americana with a touch of sleaze and bluesy sense. Not a duff track on here. If your life ain’t always in need of the heavy and you want something a bit more fun then The Trews always deliver.
Zac Williams and the Reformation: Electric Revival
In this gig there are sometimes when there is a disk you don’t want to review. Not because it's crap, but because it's so good you want to be able to continue listening to it and not have to move on to the next batch of discs. ZAR fits that category nicely and will come back to my death deck once the summer rays beat down. Think of Black Crowes, if they actually wrote decent tunes of their own. “Stronger” is what the Black Crowes should have sounded like if they spent less time fighting.
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