Album Reviews

9.0
 on
Friday, January 4, 2013 - 20:03
submitted by
Thomas

Seemingly out of nowhere there’s a new Chris Wollard album, which comes hot on the heels of Hot Water Music’s last release. There’s simply no stopping this guy! Four years after the Ship Thieves’ debut, their sound has changed quite a bit. Whereas the self-titled album felt more like a solo outing by Wollard, this one is a solid band effort. It rocks from start to finish, touching upon a myriad of different styles along the way.

The album starts off with “Dream In My Head”, a straight up classic rock barroom brawler that immediately sounds familiar with Wollard’s warm voice. Next up is “Poison Friends”, a songs that sounds as if they took the fight out to the parking lot. After that the tunes range from Southern rock (“Runaway Train”) to songs suited for the porch (“Lonely Days”)  and instant classics (“Heavy Rolling Thunder”). The only constants are Wollard’s voice and the solid guitar licks.

“Canyons” may have come out almost unnoticed late last year but it’s undoubtedly one of my favourite albums from 2012. I don’t think this guy is capable of writing a bad song even if he tried to!
 

Tom Dumarey
Tom Dumarey

Lacking the talent to actually play in a band, Tom decided he would write about bands instead. Turns out his writing skills are mediocre at best as well.