When I listen to some Americana, I usually feel sleepy. There’s such a laid-back quality to the songs that it’s hard to not be tired. That’s not a slag against the genre — there’s some very fine music that has come along that I’ve heard — but listen to some of this music on a summer afternoon, and you want to be in a hammock with a beer in hand. Not so with Winnipeg’s the Crooked Brothers, a country and folk rock trio. I listen to their latest album, Thank You I’m Sorry and I feel invigorated. The reason is because there’s enough variety to keep things peppy and interesting. And there’s such a smart feel to the sequencing of the record, you can’t help but sit up and take notice. The record is bookended by two acoustic country numbers, “Dear Antonia”, which references Vancouver, and “North of the Border”, which references Toronto. It’s an intelligent move that sets the stage for the ebb and flow of the rest of the disc. Beyond that, Thank You I’m Sorry is just full of delightful and catchy gems.
Ever had a hankering to know what Tindersticks singer Stuart A. Staples might sound like while singing a country lament? You’ll get a rough approximation of that feel by listening to “Blackbird in the Snow”, which has an English soulful croon, and, if you didn’t know who the band was in listening to this, you would be fooled into thinking it was some kind of duet between Staples and a country band. Then, there’s the barroom clamour of “Pass You By”, a short two-minute diamond that gives you enough time to get up and get an alcoholic beverage from the fridge before it’s over. This is followed by the spoken-word-esque prose poem of “Organs on Demand”, and, again, the LP takes a dovetail into unfamiliar territory and you can’t help but keep an ear glued to the speaker. Later on, there’s the harmonica-driven blues stomp of “Mean Mean Baby”, and “Lightning In My Chest” has all the clang and clamour of a modern Tom Waits tune. So … variety. There’s so much going on that you’ll never be bored or feel like you need to take a snooze. Thank You I’m Sorry doesn’t need to apologize: this is a bonafide full proof beverage that goes down easy, and is one of the finest slices of Canadiana you’ll hear this year.