A snug set of eleven of the group's best and brightest, just right in fact, not too few, not too many. At 47 minutes, you walk away thinking they were a pretty good Canadian band, with several fine pop hits, including some I always forget about until I hear them again, and really enjoy with fresh ears.
I'm surprised, for instance, that the solid mid-tempo cut Believe doesn't show up more often on my radio, but that's the problem with classic rock radio formats and restrictive Can-con playlists, they only allow a couple of cuts from bands. So for the Pikes, you'll be lucky to hear She Ain't Pretty and Teenland. That means the darker Things I Do For Money, the smart Girl With A Problem, and pleasing Kiss Me You Fool get forgotten.
Armed with two first-class songwriters in Jay Semko and Bryan Potvin, the Pikes kept things fresh on stage, in their singles and through their albums, alternating styles and vocals. They still sound fresh thanks to that, and are definitely one of the Canadian groups that deserves more notice. Seriously, how many Saskatchewan bands can you name? The band is back for year 32, with a series of dates this summer.
The songwriting of Merle Bryk was also mostly outstanding... very edgy at times... very daring... Better Twice, Unimportant, Tomorrow Never Comes, Somedays, Out of Love, Colour into Colour.. Underwater, Swim into the Rhythm, and my favourite Christ. And of course he co-wrote Kiss me You Fool with Jay... An amazing band with 3 great singer-songwriters.. and four great musicians..
ReplyDelete