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CD REVIEW: THE TREWS – 2014 – The Trews

| 2 May 2014 | Reply

CD REVIEW: THE TREWS – 2014 – The Trews
Independent
April 2014
Reviewed by Shane Pinnegar
8/10

The Trews - The Trews cover

The Trews are a live band. We’re talking about the sort of band who take to the stage and conjure a magic rarely seen or heard, their shows often being the stuff of legend where good times abound and lifelong memories are created.

On record so far they’ve fallen a shade shy of that mark – despite some truly great songs and a consistent pass mark, they’ve not yet managed to crack the A+ grade that they are easily capable of. Perhaps that’s why Friends & Total Strangers – the acoustic collection of many of their best tracks to that time – remains their high water mark to date for many.

Bestowing an eponymous title upon your fifth studio album declares some serious intent. Is this the moment it all coalesced for them? Is this The Trews in their eyes, and what went before was just a warm-up?

It’s certainly the closest these Canadians have come to capturing their live intensity and energy on record, with the interplay between guitarist brothers Colin & John-Angus MacDonald better than ever. Elder brother Colin possesses an emotive voice with a unique vibrato quality, and he sings his heart out throughout the record.

Age Of Miracles is almost a perfect example of a Trews song – great chorus, super catchy, easy to sing or fist punch the air to, with some clever and poetic lyrics and great playing. The song couldn’t be done any better.

Where The Sentimentalist is more melancholy, 65 Roses is tender and touching, and Serena Ryder’s duet on In The Morning is another standout, this time with a slight country seasoning. Living The Dream introduces some strings to introduce a real Beatles-circa-I Am The Walrus feel, and John-Angus pitches in with a short but sweet George Harrison-inspired solo.

Single What’s Fair Is Fair and closer Under The Sun have a more widescreen cinematic feel to them, but neither of them scale the heights that this band can reach when the planets align for them.

The Trews still have an A+ album in them, and they’re definitely getting better at capturing the essence of the band, but for now, we’ll have to settle with B+ to an A, which isn’t a bad result by any stretch.

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Category: CD Reviews

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