The Saskatchewan favourites have moved around musically over their career, but the blues has always been there in varying amounts. The group's eighth album sees them focus much more on the blues, which means lots of Shaun Verreault's blistering slide and lap steel. But don't expect basic 12-bar cliches from this always-imaginative duo. There are just too many places for them to go, and great ideas to try, for them to stick to the tried-and-true.
Always able to put a pop melody inside explosive performances, Verreault and drummer Safwan Javed scorch and pound around the edges of the extremely catchy "Every Red Light," sweet enough to be a Top 40 hit. "Anywhere" has the hooks of a Joel Plaskett anthem, and lots and lots of piled-on chorus vocals. But those tracks are followed up with the down-and-dirty "Erase Any Trace" with distortion threatening to take over.
Rather than being stuck in the typical blues language, the band has no trouble finding current themes and subjects to explore. "Outsourced" looks at jobs being sent overseas and company towns closing down. On "Only Child," Verreault sums up how we're all feeling in one line: "The times, they are a-strangin'." Meanwhile, for fun, gather your friends and see how long it takes them to recognize the harmonica blues cover of Bowie's "Modern Love." No matter where they are heading, Wide Mouth Mason always make great sounding albums.
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