If you’ve been living in Atlantic Canada over the last couple years, there’s little need to mention Jamie Comeau & The Crooked Teeth to you. This band has been blowing up. They’ve knocked it out at show after show, festival after festival, and their debut self-titled album has easily been one of the East Coast’s most anticipated of the last two years.
So, given that you’ve probably already heard them perform these songs at least half a dozen times, we are, more or less, simply here to inform you that they are now available, glorious and resplendent, in a digital format.
Time and memory can do wonders in terms of curation. Six months can usually do a lot to separate the chaff from the rest of the grain (or in this case the hit singles), but listening to the album now it’s clear there’s not a lot of filler here. Rather, the release leaves us with a purer form of what we’ve been hearing all along in the Crooked Teeth’s live performances, without losing any of the energy. It’s a beautiful transmutation of clarity and gold.
Instead, what does stand out on the album are the track’s that weren’t released as singles. The high energy boot stomper of “Left Behind” opens up the album with the same impact it has on the dance floor, but songs like “Animals,” kicking out the lower range, takes on a gravitas that hadn’t come across before. It’s got a sexy swagger that’s all Comeau’s cutting vocals and Aidan Bullock’s bassline before unleashing on us with a guitar solo. During the live performances it’s a whirlwind frenzy, but with the studio version we’re treated to something a little more nuanced.
The hits we’ve heard, “Tall Pine” and “Fortune” rattle away with their gritty blues rock meets rolling country-western sound with such comfortable familiarity at this point they barely need introduction. They’ve been assimilated into our regular auditory diet. “Hold My Own” gently edges out the on the last track, though we do miss the added horn section of Big Smoke Brass.
Jamie Comeau & The Crooked Teeth have reinvented a formula that has them poised for success. Yes, there’s a train beat and face-melting guitar solo here and there, but it’s done in such a way that – dare we say it – has them breathing new life into the genre. You’ve either seen them and you already know, or you’re soon about to.
The band will be having their album release show tonight at Peppers Pub in Saint John, New Brunswick. While physical copies of the album are not yet available, the band do say they’ve plenty of fresh new t-shirts.
Tour Dates:
08.10.19 – Saint John, NB @ Peppers Pub
08.16.19 – Fredericton, NB @ The Capital Complex
08.17.19 – Pocologan, NB @ Pocologan Camp Party
08.31.19 – Alma, NB @ Fundy National Park Amphitheater
09.21.19 – Sydney, NS @ Governors Pub & Eatery