MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: RICK AND GAILLIE - THE LOST ALBUM

I love getting around the country, at the very least via the audio route, and this time we stop by Peterborough, Ontario. We'll drop by the Black Horse Pub, well-known for live music seven night (and some matinees) a week. If you go Monday nights, you can get half-price wings (yay) and catch the Crash And Burn show, with Rick & Gailie (double yay). They have a long-standing residency at the pub, also doing matinees Friday and Saturdays, honing a sound that's a little bit prog (think Moody Blues) and a lot pop (think British Invasion). That's resulted in their latest disc, which collects a solid 16 originals with classic songwriting and warm vocals and harmonies.

From the lighter, happy style of the '64 era (Thank You, Be My Baby), which echo early Beatles/Dave Clark Five singles, to the more mature pop for Falling For You, to the adventurous opener Deity, echoing those Procol Harum/Moodies productions, everything on this album is familiar, fun and fresh at the same time. Rick and Gailie don't recreate, instead they are inspired by this beloved era, and create new works that sit perfectly in that style. Don't Take Time is a great piece of early rock 'n' roll, but as heard through British ears and then sent back to North America, the same way those '60's bands were interpreting Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, etc.

When Rick and Gailie do get a bit more modern, such as on Faster, it's the same way it happened in the early '70's, when pop bands heavily influenced by The Beatles et al, like Badfinger, sharpened up the sound. The production here is crisp and new as well, there's nothing screaming 'vintage' but rather it's all refreshing, for folks with an ear to those proven qualities. Worth a trip to Peterborough, huh? Well, that and the wings.