Would you expect a round of fingerpicking mayhem falling somewhere on the continental divide between
Celtic
and
bluegrass
to unfold over the rhythm from
the Clash
's
"Should I Stay or Should I Go,"
only to shift fluidly into a round of
traditional-ish
reels that echo
the Charlie Daniels Band
's moment in the sun? Well, would you? Welcome to
the Clumsy Lovers
' world, which begins somewhere west of Ontario and encompasses the lush lands of
pop
,
rock
, and belly laughter, not to mention the rousing traditions, instrumentation, and playing of the aforementioned disciplines. Road dogs by trade, these guys have been around for years. In fact, they were probably playing a nearby hall while you were wrapped up and struggling with your Tivo's head-up menu. They've also self-released plenty of material. Still, despite all of that,
After the Flood
is
' first official release, with a producer (
John Webster
) and on a record label (
Nettwerk
) and everything. It's a pretty robust ride. Banjos, mandolin, fiddle, plenty of two-steppin' rhythm -- it's all here, guided by the everyman vocals and earthy lyrics of
Trevor Rogers
.
"Everything's Okay"
finds him almost rapping the verses before dropping a
Cracker-ish
chorus, while
"Mercy"
is a heartening, poppy, folksy singalong with fabulous fiddle work (and backing vocals) from
Andrea Lewis
. The similarly rousing
"Spare in the Trunk"
suggests
Poi Dog Pondering
, while the
traditionals
"Highland Skip"
"Waterbound"
are each given a fun
Clumsy Lovers
spin. This energetic racket gets
moving at quite a clip, but
Rogers
does offer a breather with the title track, which strikes a gentle note of warning over a mandolin's lilt. Throw in a late-album instrumental that seems to cross
klezmer
with
country & western
-- or something like that -- and
can pretty much guarantee the listener a grand old time.
is a barn dance converted to ones and zeroes. ~ Johnny Loftus