Sometimes you get something through and not even the outrageous claims of the press-release are likely to lift the oppressive mediocrity of the record that eventually rolls across your ear-drum, so you’ll excuse me if I confess I was in no way phased by the A4 plus-sized plaudits bestowed upon The Trews by their bright and eager press department. I mean, you should have seen what they said about The Delays. And imagine what it was like preparing for take-off off the back of an Ocean Colour Scene press-sheet. Thesedays, I’ve learned not to expect too much. I used to approach blind dates with the much same indifference; that way I didn’t have to think of excuses to leave mid-way through my Chicken Tikka Makhani or draft alternative travel routes on the back of my table napkin to avoid the eager old bint scabbing a ride in my taxi home before she even had a chance to order a starter. My mother used to say ‘never fish for disappointment and you’ll never have a disappointed fish on the end of your tackle’. And whilst it’s not as poignant a memory as I’d like to have of the old dear, it’s prepared me rather well. So imagine my surprise to find that in spite of the fact that The Trews have conquered Canada with two Gold albums and six Top 10 singles already, have performed in over 400 shows since 2004 and opened for the likes of the Rolling Stones in addition to having their new album produced by none other than Grammy Award Winning producer Jack Douglas (Aerosmith, John Lennon, New York Dolls) ‘Den Of Thieves’ is every bit the kicking and screaming major rock trouser event they said it was in the press release. Sure, the band’s classic cock-rock influences are barely concealed beneath the thumping, monster riffing and the shamelessly overwrought production values (Aerosmith, Black Crowes, Pearl Jam, Nickelback) but the way the band manage to weave their way through a hefty 15 track album managing to tie all these threads together and still manage to make it sound fluent, is a thumbs-up that not even that crazy, fab Macca could top.
A four-piece from New Glasgow, Canada, brothers Colin and John-Angis MacDonald and co. release ‘Den Of Thieves’ as a follow-up to 2003’s debut, ‘House Of Ill Fame’. Whilst it’s the hard, rocking railway-sleeper tracks that dominate (‘Fire Up Ahead’, ‘So She’s Leaving’, ‘Yearning’) the band throw us some fairly pleasing curveballs with the jangly, open-tunings of ‘Makin’ Sunshine’ and the modest tapestry of pianos and pick-guitar that illuminate ‘I Can’t Say’. In all honesty there’s a mass of influences and styles here, and even the Red Hot Chilli Peppers get a soundcheck on the curly, funky ‘Cry’. Elswehere it’s more straightforward. They’re not all dazzlers, by any means, but the sum of the parts means that cruising tracks like ‘Yearning’ and lush, psychedelic ballads like ‘Naked’ provide a sum of quite some magnitude.
Imagine Aerosmith fronted by those sexy Kings Of Leon brothers, Caleb and Nathan storming through a set list that includes a couple of unreleased Pearl Jam compositions, a chirpy Nirvana/REM co-write (Montebello Park’), a Strokes number (‘The Pearl’) and a boxful of energy bars. Because that is what you’ve got. It’s not original, it’s not alternative, but it sure sweet buggery rocks.