Andre Pettipas and the Giants aren’t big on sleeves. Not that we’re in the habit of regularly judging any band by its arm covers, but that fact alone can and should tell you an awful lot about Andre Pettipas & Co.. These are natural performers with a big sound and they don’t take themselves, or their sleeves, too seriously. It’s all spelt out in the title of their new album, No Fools No Fun.
The band hit the ground running with the opening title track, opening up with a big crescendo that does zero-to-sixty in about fifteen seconds. From that point on they’re just throwing gas on the fire and maintaining a relentless pace clear through to the finish line. No Fools No Fun is a rush.
This is the epitome of barroom rock, built on a 4/4 foundation and put together riff by riff. If this album had been released in 1996 it would have been right at home. You can hear the fingerprints of Brian Moncarz (Alice Cooper, The Tea Party, Our Lady Peace) all through it, and the influences of The Trews’ John Angus MacDonald (who produced and contributed guitar to the single “Sympathy Card”). It is gloriously chronologically ambivalent in a way that encourages you to abandon the knees of your denim and to adopt a flannel belt.
Speaking of skewed timelines, “The Swedish Motel” is the first evidence we ever saw of No Fools No Fun. Released in July of 2018 and co-produced by Jon Landry (The Stanfields), “The Swedish Motel” was an ode to an ’80s Volvo station wagon that the band’s mentor, Gord Stensrud, used to tour in, and all that entails… particularly the matter of questioning if it was all worth it for forty-five minutes on stage in front of a crowd.
“Sympathy Card” similarly deals with the challenges of making it work in the business, what it takes, and who is left to blame if you’re not willing to put your nose to the grindstone. Forming a loose trilogy in the latter first half of the album, “Homesick” also addresses another universal problem faced by touring musicians everywhere. Nearly scrapped early in the process by Pettipas as a throw-away sappy song, “Homesick” stands out as one of the album’s best.
Andre Pettipas and The Giants obviously excel at writing fun songs about the relatable. They take some pretty broad swings with songs like “Last First Date Ever,” which need not be explained but certainly celebrated for Leigh Fleming-Smith’s contribution on organ.
The album dips back, once again, into that theme of shooting for the stars just a few songs later. They’re giving it their all on “Overtime,” and tossing in on the high stakes game of romance on “Russian Roulette,” diving into the complication of relationships with the blues-rock “Labels” and a conversely catchy song on the pitfalls of the same on “Spoonfed Lies.” Whether it’s for love or rock and roll, Pettipas & Co. make it clear that No Fools No Fun is very much a matter of no risk, no reward.
If you can imagine The Black Crowes meets John Cougar Mellencamp and immediately tearing off all of their sleeves to howl into a microphone, then you’ve got Andre Pettipas and The Giant’s No Fools No Fun. They’re hammering home the riffs on this album, and you can clearly hear that there’s no question how much fun they’ve had doing it.