MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE 24th STREET WAILERS - UNSHAKEABLE

Funky, low-down blues is featured on this second album from the Toronto quartet.  Featuring Halifax-born singer/drummer Lindsay Beaver, it's nasty and raw, with honking sax and distorted (on purpose) vocals, and tough and sexy lyrics.  Guitar solos are knife-sharp, and the whole thing might even be a bit sinister if it was so darn danceable.

You'd think it was the work of seasoned and toughened bar-band veterans, but these Wailers are actually fresh-faced music school products, all young but obviously getting the right seasoning fast.  They've been climbing the Toronto bar and club seen, and now touring the country in all the right spots, plus becoming festival favourites.  It's easy to hear why;  Beaver belts with authority, and the songs move great.  With Emily Burgess on lead guitar, the group also holds the distinction of being a rare thing in the blues world, two women and two men, and everybody with superior chops.  I didn't think it was possible to go to school to learn the blues, and maybe they had it down before, but the formula sure works here.