CD Odyssey Disc 1723: Over the Rhine

The long weekend continues to treat me well, and today promises to be a lazy one, featuring reading, watching the men’s final of the Miami Open (sorry, March Madness devotees, it is tennis season for me), and music appreciation. On that latter item, I was up early to give this next album a third and decisive listen.

Disc 1723 is…Good Dog Bad Dog

Artist: Over the Rhine

Year of Release: 1996

What’s up with the Cover?  The band looking fine in their oversized clothes (don’t judge them, it was the style at the time).

Also featured are two dogs, presumably one good, one bad. I think if I were a dog, I would be a very bad dog. On the other hand, I’d be a very good cat.

How I Came To Know It: Sheila’s coworker Carol is a huge fan of this band and very generously lent Sheila her Over the Rhine collection.

Turns out this was a lot of Over the Rhine. I was trepidatious at first. If I didn’t like this band, was I really going to listen to 10 albums worth of it? Rather than overthink it we dove in at the beginning to see how it would go. As it happens, it went very well indeed. I now have two Over the Rhine albums and a host of others on my “to get” list. Thanks for the great musical discovery, Carol!

How It Stacks Up: I found a used copy of this record in my local record store and a second album arrived by Amazon this morning (yes, weirdly it was the same band). Even though this gives me two records, the second one just arrived, and I will withhold judgment at this time.

Rating: 2 stars but almost 3

While I am uncharacteristically withholding judgment, I will generally note that in my deep dive through Over the Rhine, they are like a fine wine that improves with age. Their early records don’t hold me the same way. Part of this is that thick, layered nineties production (a problem of the era, not specific to Over the Rhine) and the other part is them still exploring what they want to sound like generating a lack of cohesion at times.

“Good Dog, Bad Dog” is the band’s fourth record, and early enough to have these challenges. I still liked it enough to buy it, but I’ll admit that it left me feeling wistful for some of their later records.

Things start strong. The opening lyric of “Latter Days” is delightful and artistically alluring:

“What a beautiful piece of heartache
This has all turned out to be.”

Consider me intrigued, and from here the song progresses at a measured, majestic pace, fueled by piano and the great gift that is Karin Bergquist’s vocals. Bergquist has pure pop in her tone, channeled through a folk sensibility. Her vocals are like hearing elfin music in the deep woods, warm and ethereal. She has a natural talent for phrasing that sits down with the piano riff on “Latter Days” to create a lovely musical conversation.

My favourite song on the record, “Poughkeepsie,” creates a similar experience, with stately guitar strumming replacing piano, and the same great balance of sound. “Poughkeepsie” has the rising power of a devotional; not surprising for a song about riding on the backs of angels. I don’t ride on the backs of angels myself, but listening to Bergquist’s heartfelt delivery, it is easy to feel inspired.

Unfortunately, the record still has a lot of exploration of different sounds that do not work well. “Faithfully Dangerous” sounds a lot like Sade. I do not like Sade. “A Gospel Number” tries to mix gospel vibes with an overly smooth mid-nineties lounge sound that was tiresome in the day and has not aged well. “Jack’s Valentine” features a spoken word delivery that feels ironically detached, a poor match with a record that is best when plumbing the emotional depths.

At almost 60 minutes of music, some of the songs are on the longish side. In these moments the band is trying to lay down a vibe with a slow roll of repetition through the tune’s elements. No complaints with delivery – the musicianship is top-notch – but I’d been at the studio board I would have encouraged them to call it a couple bars early.

On balance, I found this record featured some good dogs, but it also had a few bad ones, and not enough cats to fill the gaps. I liked it, and it whetted my appetite to bring more of their records into the collection, but it is not my favourite Over the Rhine album.

Best tracks: Latter Days, Etcetera Whatever, Poughkeepsie, Go Down Easy

CD Odyssey Disc 1722: Camp Cope

Welcome back to the CD Odyssey, and the second album in a row that is self-titled, or as folks say when they’re feeling high- falutin, “eponymous”.

Disc 1722 is…Self-Titled

Artist: Camp Cope

Year of Release: 2016

What’s up with the Cover?  A toddler who appears to be wrapped in some medical bandages. Whatever the accident was, her smile suggests the suffering at present is thankfully contained.

While I'm glad the kid appears to be on the mend, I found I was mostly fixated on the food she is offhandedly holding in her right hand. The gaping mouth suggests she will joyfully chew that food with her mouth open. That’s if we’re lucky. With a child this age getting food into the mouth where it belongs is far from certain. More often than not, it will instead fall out of her hand, get covered in cat hair, retrieved and then eaten. Or it may just be offhandedly stamped into the shag carpet by her foot as she heads off in search of other mischief. All three possibilities are gross.

As you may have surmised, I do not have children.

How I Came To Know It: I heard about Camp Cope through their 2018 release, “How to Socialise and Make Friends” and this was me digging into their back catalogue.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Camp Cope albums. Their self-titled debut lands at #3, but is still great.

Rating: 3 stars

If you like your debut albums raw and bleeding, then Camp Cope’s first effort will be very welcome. Right out of the gate the Australian trio hold nothing back, delivering tight alternative rock songs that blend anger, anxiety, and stark, vulnerable lyrics.

The band is every bit a cohesive whole, and while it would be easy to focus on Georgia Maq’s powerful vocals, the sum of all the instruments together is what creates the magic. Maq eventually went on to do a solo record but it doesn’t hold the magic that Camp Cope possessed from the beginning.

Nevertheless, we’ll start with the frontwoman (lead singers like this). Georgia Maq’s voice is big, brassy and sprawls its way across these songs, always on the edge of breakdown, and riding that edge like a massive wave. She belts and she bawls, and she feels the feels in every line.

Often the topics are hard ones. The disconnection in the chorus of “Flesh & Electricity”:

“I've been desensitized to the human body
That I could look at you naked and all I'd see would be anatomy
You're just bones and insecurity
Flesh and electricity to me”

And the social commentary on “Jet Fuel Can’t Melt Steel Beams”:

“Hearing catcalls from a construction yard
They'll say "Take it as a compliment, they're only being nice"
There's a far too common lie
And you carry keys between your knuckles when you walk alone at night”

These are hard topics and Georgia Maq sings them in a way to maximize just how hard they are, confronting you with hard topics. She explores internal uncertainty and external anger with equal unfiltered emotion. Also, I should note that the jet fuel reference in the song is a reference to a conspiracy theory she’s challenging, not something she thinks.

Maq is also the band’s guitar player, and she matches the unbridled energy of her vocals with her instrument, banging out chords with the wild abandon of a busker trying to play over the sounds of traffic. This doesn’t compete with her voice, it amplifies it, a la early Billy Bragg. It creates an orchestra much bigger than you’d expect from almost any three-piece you can think of not called Rush.

The mix is very even, and this is a good thing because it lets you also appreciate the brilliant bass-playing of Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich. Her style feels reminiscent of the Cure’s Simon Gallup, adding an eighties throwback quality to the otherwise grungy feel of Camp Cope.

The songs can be painful, with anxiety a common thread through many of them, but there is catharsis in listening. Like you could shout out the bad if only you could yell long enough. Does it feel excessively grumpy sometimes? Yes, but it is an earned grumpiness, making you perfectly happy to join in for an uncommonly boisterous sulk.

Best tracks: Flesh & Electricity, Jet Fuel Can’t Melt Steel Beams, Stove Lighter, Song For Charlie

CD Odyssey Disc 1721: The Modern Lovers

Last night I went dancing for the first time in a while. While the music wasn’t to my tastes, the crowd was great and the dancing an experience I’ve always loved that was long overdue for a return.

Disc 1721 is…Self-Titled

Artist: The Modern Lovers

Year of Release: 1976, but featuring music from 1971-1973

What’s up with the Cover?  A less than inspiring logo. It is OK, and I like the purple they’ve chosen, but um…could be more. This is a reissue and I believe the original has a black background with a blue heart and a white circle. That looks a bit better but still…yawn.

How I Came To Know It: Ever since my friend Casey put me onto Jonathan Richman I’ve been buying up his back catalogue. I’d never heard (nor even “heard of”) this record when I saw it in the record store and decided to give it a go.

How It Stacks Up: I have two other Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers albums. Technically this is not Jonathan Richman, and the Modern Lovers, this is just “The Modern Lovers” although yes, Jonathan Richman is in the band. I realize this is confusing. More on this later.

In the meantime, to remove the confusion I’m going to count this in my overall assessment of Jonathan Richman in my collection, in all his various Modern Lover contexts. That means I have three total albums, and it also means this is my final review (at least until I can find the elusive “I, Jonathan”). I rank “The Modern Lovers” at #3. Here’s the full accounting:

1. Jonathan Sings!: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1630)
2. Self-Titled (Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers): 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1649)
3. Self-Titled (The Modern Lovers): 3 stars (reviewed right here)

 Rating: 3 stars but almost 4

Listening to the Modern Lovers self-titled debut felt a little bit like peering into a parallel universe. A place where the Modern Lovers are a punk band with some pop sensibilities, instead of the reverse. So similar, but with the emphasis differently placed.

From 1971-1973 Jonathan Richman was part of the original Modern Lovers, but they split up and Richman would go on to front a new band. Along the way, the old recordings from his original band kind of hung around, eventually getting released in 1976 – the same year Richman’s new band (also the Modern Lovers but now with is name in the front) released their eponymous debut.

The earlier record has similarities to Richman’s later solo work mostly through his quavering but confident vocals, and his propensity to observe the world in a detached but insightful manner. The song topics are a bit more straightforward tunes about love, drugs and rock and roll. No martians, no abominable snowmen in the market that you’ll hear on his other records. Still present – his idealized exploration of love.

Well, it could be idealized, or it could be ironic. With Richman it is hard to tell, but I find his music a lot more enjoyable if you assume he is being earnest. It opens you up to a world where your faith in the basic decency of people is affirmed, even if things don’t always go the way they should.

Musically, the Modern Lovers (the album I’m reviewing right now…) has a stronger punk edge, with a garage-like feel to the playing that was strongly reminiscent of early Lou Reed. This is reinforced by songs that do not get creative with the melody. A couple of chords, played in earnest.

The heavy use of organ and the meandering feel to the songs evokes a late sixties/early seventies psychedelia as well, which is a welcome addition and makes songs that could feel repetitive instead draw you into a joyful, almost manic trance.

The goofiness that defines Richman’s other albums does appear on one tune. With “Pablo Picasso” Richman muses:

“Some people try to pick up girls and get called assholes
This never happened to Pablo Picasso “

I doubt Picasso was never called an asshole, but I guess anything is possible and it is a curious thought regardless. The song further benefits from a stoner surfer vibe on guitar that makes it the best track on a record with many good ones.

On “Girlfriend” the chorus spells out the song’s title as “g-i-r-l-f-r-e-n”. We know from the title Richman knows better, but this nod to ‘whatevs’ is part of what gives the Modern Lovers their charm. They are nerds and outcasts, but they make it cool.

“I’m Straight” is a great song, but not at all about what you would think based on the current meaning of the word. Back in the early seventies, the expression meant “not high.” The song features Richman phoning around, jealous of another neighbourhood character, “Hippy Johnny” who is always high.

My copy of the record is the 2003 re-release, which is good because it comes with a lot of extra tunes, including the aforementioned “I’m Straight” and the also brilliant “Government Center”. Unfortunately, it was 2003 and soulless record execs were feeling the need to use up the new medium’s available space. As a result, we get “alternate versions” of three of the record’s songs, (“Someone I Care About”, “Modern World” and “Roadrunner”). The first two are not even the record’s better songs and while “Roadrunner” is awesome, the original studio version is demonstrably better.

Minor complaints however on a record that otherwise shows Richman’s genius in a couple of ways. First, that the record is a master class in early punk/alternative music and the other that it came out in the same year as Richman dropped another classic record in a totally different (and yet not) style. Parallel universes, in every awesome way possible.

Best tracks: Roadrunner, Old World, Pablo Picasso, Hospital, Girlfriend, I’m Straight, Government Center

CD Odyssey Disc 1720: Jurassic 5

OK, let’s get right to it, shall we?

Disc 1720 is…Power in Numbers

Artist: Jurassic 5

Year of Release: 2002

What’s up with the Cover?  I think this is the skyline of Los Angeles which would make sense, given that’s where the band is from.

However, this Los Angeles appears be suffering from an unpermitted hip hop concert. Or maybe a zombie outbreak. Hard to know just from the hands reaching out, since concert goers and zombies are both known to do this, albeit for very different reasons.

In any event, it looks like we need a bylaw officer…or Rick and Michonne. Hard to know who until you get a little closer and that point it’ll be too late. You’ll either start dancing or get eaten.

How I Came To Know It: It was playing a local diner (the Ruby) and I asked what it was. Turns out it was a band I didn’t know, and desperately needed to.

How It Stacks Up: I have three Jurassic 5 albums. “Power in Numbers” comes in at #1.

Rating: 4 stars but almost 5

Rap music is replete with rappers that can spit fast rhymes, but there are very few bands that can hold a candle to the technical mastery of Jurassic 5, who have not one, not two, not three but four brilliant rappers.

Listening to their finest work, “Power In Numbers” you may initially want to pick a favourite. For me, it is easy to catch the groove of Chali 2na first because with his deep gravelly bass vocals he sounds so singularly different from other rappers. However, picking just one of these masters is a mistake.

Instead recognize that what makes Jurassic 5 so brilliant is that all of these guys are at the top of their game, each in their own way. Revel in the switch, bar to bar, hip hop’s version of a bluegrass solo, where everyone gets their turn. And if you absolutely loved one guy’s section, don’t worry, he’ll come around again soon enough. While you are waiting – there’ll be three other dudes droppin’ killer rhymes.

The beats are as groovy as they come, and the samples inspired. There is even a fair bit of jazz flute thrown in (very noticeable on “If You Only Knew”). What’s that? You are not a fan of jazz flute? Believe me when I tell you that Jurassic 5 will change your mind.

What every one of these masters shares is an ability to drop complex rhymes absolutely brimming with internal rhyme, rhymes flowing over the bar, rhymes piled on top of one another that you are certain it will collapse like some kind of Jenga tower yet never does. Do NOT try to rap along with them. You will be breathless just listening. Trying to keep up in real time will likely only result in you passing out. Only attempt if already seated on your couch.

In addition to furious rap talent and surprisingly welcome jazz flute, these guys drop some dope beats. These songs aren’t just technically brilliant, they are groovy and made for dancing. You will want to move your booty (unless seated in your car, then a well-timed head bob is appropriate). All the tracks are great, but the single “What’s Golden” is about as good as it gets.

The second half of the record isn’t quite as good as the first, but that just means it goes from perfection to just plain excellent. Maybe the songs are a bit more languorous in nature, or maybe my brain was just exhausted hearing that many clever rhymes all in a row.

Also, the final tune “Acetate Prophets” is six and half minutes of drum beat exploration. By this point of the album I would forgive almost anything, but at about the five-minute mark I felt my patience tested.

These very minor quibbles aside, you can’t come much closer to 5-star perfection than “Power in Numbers”. The record is a brilliant collection of talent at the height of their collective power. It is a shame they’d only do one more record together before going their separate ways, but that rarity makes this moment all the sweeter.

Best tracks: Freedom, If You Only Knew, Break, What’s Golden, Sum of Us, One of Them, I Am Somebody

CD Odyssey Disc 1719: Josie Cotton

I gave this next record a full week’s worth of listening, which is much more exposure than a record often achieves on the CD Odyssey. Part of this was how busy I was, but there was also an element of just wanting to dive a little deeper. This is always a good sign.

Disc 1719 is…Day of the Gun

Artist: Josie Cotton

Year of Release: 2023

What’s up with the Cover?  Josie in splashes of vibrant colour and a funky hat festooned with feathers. This is so delightf...wait a minute! What the fuck is that blue thing on her lap?

A creepy plastic blue baby has invaded this whimsical scene. The shadow they cast looks perfectly organic, hiding the baby’s true nature. Maybe that’s the idea here, but for me the shadow and the reality are equally creepy.

How I Came To Know It: This was me digging through Josie Cotton’s back catalogue on Bandcamp. I don’t buy everything Cotton releases but I like her well enough to give everything a chance.

How It Stacks Up: I’ve bought two more Josie Cotton albums over the past year and now have five total. Of those five, “Day of the Gun” comes in at #2 and is in a statistical tie for #1 with “Convertible Music”. Previous expressions of love for “From the Hip” are still true, but I must drop that record down to #3.

Rating: 3 stars but almost 4

Last time I reviewed a Josie Cotton album I ended up giving it a whole week’s worth of listening and on “Day of the Gun” this happened again. Despite the lighthearted beat of her music, and the youthful enthusiasm of her vocals Cotton’s stuff demands a deeper dive.

Even as she edges toward 70 years old Cotton has lost none of her talent. If anything, she is more creative than she’s ever been. Early records like “Convertible Music” and “From the Hip” are beautiful, but they are largely about the obvious rock and roll topics of restless love. Cotton has let her interests broaden across a variety of topics. You can tell that underneath the pop sensibilities of her music she is well-read, intellectually curious and just generally smart as hell.

On “Day of the Gun” she explores multiple literary and cinematic topics. At times I could pick up the references, and at others she was either making it up herself, or just out-referencing me on the song’s original inspiration.

On “Overturning” Cotton turns her mind to culture in decline, while at the same time celebrating western literary and mythological traditions. In slightly over three minutes she pays homage to Yeats’ “the Second Coming”, Shelley’s “Ozymandias”, the legend of Theseus and the minotaur, before rounding it off with reference to the music of the spheres. If you don’t know even some of those references, go look them up. As Cotton wistfully notes, “there was beauty/there was madness”. There still is, Josie.

She also turns her mind to cinema, with “Painting in Blood” an homage to the Giallo horror films of the seventies. Mangling, blood, murder by gloved assailants. You name the Giallo theme, she’s got it in this murderous little love letter.

“The Fathomless Tale of Silky and Sam” is indeed fathomless. Could be from a book, could be from a movie, or could just be from Cotton’s exceptional imagination, it tells of an interdimensional spider creature bonding with a person in a parasitic (or symbiotic) way. I think a bit of both. It’s confusing, but in a delightful way.

Stylistically, the album is a mix of New Wave and Rockabilly (the latter being given much love in “The Ballad of Elvis Presley”). Cotton was never a powerhouse vocalist, but she’s lost nothing in her delivery, and she writes songs that suit her style and range such that you never notice.

As a fellow lover of multiple genre fictions (spies, horror, science fiction) it is great to hear a pop artist also embrace these themes, and to do it so well. Cotton is a thoughtful songwriter who won’t limit herself to yet another ballad of unrequited love. This later career fearlessness is never better than on “Day of the Gun”, which is her best work in years and which vies for her best work ever. I’d encourage her to never stop doing what she does, but it is clear she doesn’t need my advice on this front.

Best tracks: Day of the Gun, Overturning, The Ballad of Elvis Presley, Painting in Blood, Cold War Spy

CD Odyssey Disc 1718: Wagakki Band

I wanted to wash my car today but the weather is not cooperating. My car’s loss is your gain, dear reader. Here is a music review for your reading pleasure.

Earlier (when I was also not washing my car) I did some download shopping, landing albums from Ancient Empire, Liquid Mike and five by my newest musical discovery, "The Paranoid Style". More about those when I roll them, of course.

Disc 1718 is…Otonoe

Artist: Wagakki Band

Year of Release: 2018

What’s up with the Cover? Bright splashes of colour which I can only assume is the residue left over after an interdimensional portal closes. The cover shown online has a bunch of band portraits on top of this design, but my copy (which is a special edition with a bonus DVD) has them nowhere to be found. Likely sucked into the portal earlier.

How I Came To Know It: The band through an article that referenced them many years ago, but this album was picked up for me by my buddy Nick when he was in Japan last year.

How It Stacks Up: I have seven Wagakki Band albums. It is difficult to separate them in my head, mostly because I got six of them all in one glut, making them blend together. That said, Otonoe is one of the better ones. I place it third best.

Rating: 3 stars

Welcome back to the wild and wacky world of Wagakki Band, the Japanese phenomenon that mixes J-pop, Japanese folk and power metal. “Otonoe” is the last record of what I think of the band’s golden age. Later records are good but don’t capture the magic of mid-tens Wagakki Band.

It all starts with the star of the show, vocalist Yuko Suzuhana. Suzuhana sings with a strong and pure tone, and the songs, which have an anthemic rise to them, are perfectly matched to her style. Suzuhana comes across bright and clear, soaring over the eclectic mix of electric guitar, wagakki folk instruments and strange percussion that mark this band’s sound.

There are lots of influences on Otonoe, and my lack of understanding of Asian musical styles means I’m probably missing 80% of them. Some of the tunes have a pop sensibility, and others feel very folksy, to the point where I was thinking of New Age Celtic bands like Capercaillie. There are places where it sounds almost Indian as well, but again I don’t know enough about India’s music scene to be sure. It has the same frenetic gallop anyway.

Most of the tunes have a breathless pace, and the western and traditional instruments play off of each other with a focused and complementary intensity. To play this many different sounding things all at once, you need to have precision and the timing down at a micro level. Wagakki Band delivers, weaving an intricate latticework of music for Suzuhana to soar up from.

Otonoe is slightly ‘lighter’ than previous records, with a bit less of a metal edge, and more of the pop/folk sensibility. This did not bother me, and I like how the band has adjusted their sound over the years.

There are even ballads on Otonoe, and they are some of the better tunes. I don’t know the lyrics to “Doppo (Walking Alone)” but it is full of pensive heartbreak all the same. Less latticework here, and more sparse beauty.

Listening to Wagakki Band feels a bit like holding your breath. The songs race along, jumping from one big note to another and not know quite where they are going next you are on the edge of your seat throughout. I think detractors would say they are “busy” but I just found them hard to the task, drawing out as many notes and notions as the song’s structure will allow.

So it not for everyone, but it is definitely for me, and I look forward to my next encounter with this wild and wonderful bunch.

Best tracks: Hakanaku mo Utsukushii no wa (What is Ephemeral and Beautiful), Yuki Kageboushi (Snow Silhouette), Doppo (Walking Alone)

CD Odyssey Disc 1717: Trapper Schoepp

Today was an interesting day, as I took an hour away from work to join Sheila for…a fashion shoot. I was even the model. It was great fun and even musically relevant (I call my style ‘aging rock star’). Now on to the music itself!

Disc 1717 is…Siren Songs

Artist: Trapper Schoepp

Year of Release: 2023

What’s up with the Cover? Trapper Schoepp walks on water. Er…sits on water? Is Trapper the magic here or is it the stool?

Maybe this cover is suggesting Schoepp is playing some siren songs, but instead of luring sailors to their deaths he’s luring trout fisherman to spending an afternoon with wet shoes and socks.

How I Came To Know It: I have been a Trapper Schoepp fan since I saw him in 2017 at the Commodore. I haven’t loved everything he puts out but the album I like, I like a lot.

How It Stacks Up: Trapper Schoepp has released six albums, but I only have three of them. Here’s how they all stack up.

1. Siren Songs: 4 stars (reviewed right here)
2. Rangers & Valentines: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 1052)
3. Run, Engine, Run: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1202)

Rating: 4 stars

This is the first Trapper Schoepp album I’ve bought in over seven years, and whatever magic was missing for me on the three records I skipped over in that interlude, has been found and then some on “Siren Songs”. This is Schoepp’s best work since 2016’s “Rangers & Valentines,” revealing a maturing artist who has found nuance in his songwriting without sacrificing any of the youthful exuberance that mark his earlier work.

I discovered Schoepp in 2017 when he opened for Frank Turner at a show in Vancouver, and I was immediately impressed with his energy and natural talent for songwriting. Schoepp has since learned a lot of Frank’s tricks, notably his ability to take the exuberance of good old rock and roll and mix it with traditional Celtic folk structures.

Many of the songs on this record have that rollicking beat of Celtic beat, and lots of variations of 1-4-5 chord progressions of that style, blended with rock and roll and his own Wisconsin charm to create something that is both familiar and invigorating.

Schoepp also adds all manner of Celtic-friendly instruments to support this vibe, including mandolin, tin whistle, accordion, fiddle and (I think) even a bodhran, although the record just lists drums and the eternally vague “percussion”.

These songs made me wish I was a-sea with a hearty crew on a ship-of-the-line. Yes, this is in part because I’m reading one of Patrick O’Brien’s “Master and Commander” novels, but it is more than that. These songs are decidedly sea-shanty friendly, with a natural heave-to, and choruses that will encourage you to sing along.

The production on the record is just as I like it, honouring the mid-range in the mix and letting each instrument shine equally. Schoepp’s vocals have a lot of tight harmony that had me thinking favourably of Canadian band Grapes of Wrath. The effect creates a sense of belonging to the song. Listening, I felt like a member of the band, participating in each song’s story rather than sitting on the sideline. It left me all warm and fuzzy inside.

There are some cases where the songs don’t have a lot of complexity, and Schoepp compensates for this with adjusting the arrangement as he goes, throwing in a piano bit for the latter third or somesuch to keep your ear interested. I caught him at this stuff a couple of times, but it didn’t bother me because while these songs may not engage in composition gymnastics they are so fun you won’t mind.

I’d also like to reflect ‘ere I part, on what a quality dude Trapper Schoepp is. At his concerts he attends the merch table and engages fans in real conversation. I ordered this album from Bandcamp, and along with it Schoepp sent me a pin and a handwritten postcard saying hello, and some kind words about Canada. He’s a class act.

He’s also made his best record ever, and one that will be on regular rotation in my collection for many years to come.

Best tracks: Secrets of the Breeze, Good Graces, The Fool, Eliza, Diocese, In Returning