MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: THE HEADSTONES - PICTURE OF HEALTH Remastered

It's the early '90's, and America is all about grunge. While those angsty types are in their parents' basements, moaning about their awful teen years, what do we have in Canada? We have songwriters, of course. Not Lightfoot though, I'm talking about punkish/rock and roll songwriters. Hugh Dillon had lots to say, and it wasn't all woe is me. And the hard-rockin' Headstones weren't about posing, they were the real deal. Sure there was anger, but it was directed at the right sources, not just cries for help. And they could laugh about it all too.

The band built a sizeable following with this debut album, won some awards, broke up and came back, and they still have a loyal fan base. The roots of that are all here, from their high-energy performances to dark but thoughtful lyrics to rebellion to punkish fun. The delightfully twisted Cemetery both shocked and amused: "Went down to the cemetery, looking for love/got there and my baby was buried, I had to dig her up." The tale of poor J-Jude-Judy was definitely an early warning, when people didn't talk about mental health. The group managed to bring out the dark side of The Traveling Wilburys, with their well-known cover of Tweeter and the Monkey Man. And there's even a bit of unabashed sentimentality in When Something Stands For Nothing, with its "rock'n'roll, comic books and bubble gum."

This 25th anniversary reissue adds four bonus tracks. There is a trio of demos for the album, Cemetery, When Something Stands For Nothing, and a very fine song called Sweet Pea that didn't make the album, maybe a little on the cartoonish side. Then there's Skin Me Alive, and interestingly, the current band has re-recorded that original song from their first demo tape for this set. It's darn hard, lots of energy, and it's surprising it didn't make the album 25 years ago. It also shows the band has no problem doing it these days.  The Headstones are currently on tour, playing the entire Picture Of Health at each show.