Rating:

(Universal Music Canada, 2006) Sam Roberts’ previous release, We Were Born in a Flame, was a giant hit in Canada, winning three Juno Awards and praise from all corners of the country. The follow-up to that hit, released May 16th in the States, is a bit of a departure. Where Flames was an impeccably clean and modern record, with studio craft as a major piece of the sound, Chemical City goes off in a slightly different direction. The majority of the album was recorded in an old church in rural Australia, and the earthiness of those surroundings shows through in the music. The album has a very organic, classic sound about it, reminiscent of The Band or The Rolling Stones. Although Roberts and company don’t directly rip anyone off, they have done an excellent job of capturing the sound of rock in the 60s and 70s. The album starts off with “The Gate,” a classic rocker tinged with psychedelia that establishes the classic sound and mood of the album. The organs growl, guitars chime out and cut through the sound for quick, gritty solos, the bass thumps, and layers and layers of vocals soar atop it all. That same basic pattern is followed on many of the tracks on Chemical City, like the harmony-rich “Mind Flood” and the album’s highlight, “An American Draft Dodger In Thunder Bay,” a song which is Dylan-esque, both in the way Roberts’ voice sounds and in the lyrical story he tells. Combined with the giant hook in the bridge, it makes for quite an aural experience. Slightly different, but just as cool, is the second track, “Bridge to Nowhere,” an acoustic burner and cautionary tale, wherein Roberts warns “You’re on a bridge to nowhere and you’re getting there fast / Put it in the past, put it in the past / If this is a race, then I hope you come last.” That acoustic classic rock formula is utilized again to fine effect on the druggy sixth track, “Mystified Heavy.” The first real ballad of the album is “Uprising Down Under,” which features Roberts’ vocals accompanied by only an acoustic guitar, a tambourine, a bass drum, and a light string arrangement. The melody is a lovely floating one that makes it difficult to resist singing along to the chorus of “All the things that you want I’ll provide / ‘Til your footprint is swept away by the tide / I can wait for a while, I don’t mind / Yeah, I can wait for a while, I got time.” Later, the bluesy stomp of “The Resistance” is the perfect background for Roberts’ musings as he sings “Those were the nights to remember / Now they’re the nights to forget.” That couplet is representative of the flavor of the entire album, which seems like it would make the perfect soundtrack to a summer evening party. That impression is only strengthened by “A Stone Would Cry Out,” a winding piano ballad which finds Roberts singing “The cinematic after effects of alcohol have led me to believe that there’s nothing more beautiful than a face as it starts to fade from your memory.” It’s a fitting ending to an excellent rock record. Perhaps the best thing about Chemical City is that it is nothing more than a rock record, and doesn’t aspire to be. Sam Roberts isn’t out to fit into a trend, or to make world-changing art, and the unpretentious nature of the album is refreshing.

  1. The Gate

* 2. Bridge To Nowhere

  3. With A Bullet

* 4. Mind Flood

* 5. Uprising Down Under

  6. Mystified, Heavy

* 7. An American Draft Dodger In Thunder Bay

  8. The Bootleg Saint

* 9. The Resistance

 10. A Stone Would Cry Out

* = recommended tracks

Buy album

– Kevin

This 4-beetsreview was posted on June 1st, 2006. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.