MUSIC REVIEW OF THE DAY: MURRAY KINSLEY & WICKED GRIN - MURDER CREEK

Here's the latest from the hard-working, hard-grooving Ottawa group, its fourth album since 2011, pretty remarkable given their constant touring regime. The four-piece group is a well-oiled machine, with Kinsley handling vocals and all the stinging guitar, with Rod Williams on harp, Leigh-Anne Stanton on bass and Bruce Saunders in the drum chair. It's hard-boiled, rough 'n' ready electric blues, with more than a few serious themes and well-spoken messages. There's as much bite in the lyrics as there is in the music.

There's a dark current running through some of the songs, part of which stems from a trip to the U.S. leading up to recording. The group was nearby during the Parkland school shooting in Florida this past February, and Trouble Coming resulted, Kinsley telling us "The streets are filled with angry people, no one wants to give an inch." Murder Creek comes from that southern journey as well, this time Kinsley telling an older tale about a robbery in deep woods Alabama, a gang of crooks that ended up getting hanged, and mystery woman behind the plan. There's also a cover of the old Colin James number Freedom that's a lot darker than the original. The blues is out there, and this is music for uneasy times.