There was no way I could not like "Overtime", a Seb original (with Mike Elliott on fiddle), and a welcome change of pace to a kind of swingy rhythm and blues. It actually sounds like it came from the same rhythmic mold as Black'n'Blues' "Ugly As She Can Be". It would have made for a better closing track, to sustain an overall positive impression of the CD.
"The Take It Easy Trailer Park" (Kinky Friedman, Van Dyke Parks) is another interesting tune, but it seems to lose something in the interpretation, with the instrumentation being kind of choppy.
"Northern Boy" (Randy Newman), another macho manifesto with a marching rhythm is Seb's always-welcome patriotic nod to Canada, making specific reference to Ottawa and Saskatchewan. However, just as in the next tune "Alright Guy" (Todd Snider), Seb's vocals tend to suffer when they are forced into the lower range, taking on an unpleasant "gruntiness" which isn't really necessary, even with those male-oriented lyrics.
There's no doubt in my mind that Sebastian Agnello is one the best lyrical composers in Canada. I find it very difficult to skip over the rare tracks where the instrumentation doesn't appeal to me, because the lyrics are too powerful to miss! |
