Cripple Creek Fairies

The Cripple Creek Fairies have done it again. This fifth trip around the guttural rock'n'roll block with Calgary's primary purveyors of upbeat, bouncy fun culminates in nothing less than 12 tracks that wrap up in a tight and punchy 34 minutes. Sure, that's nothing extraordinary but there's so much more to it. Each tune has its own memorable construction and flow, to the point where every song is swimming around in your head, fighting for attention. It's overwhelming. Then again, that's exactly what a great album should do: overwhelm you. Pulling from the simplistic fuzzy distortion of the Stooges, straightforward craftsmanship of the Ramones and — this is actually a good thing — the saccharine melodies of, say, Thrush Hermit, War Amps is an incredible addition to the already stellar Cripple Creek Fairies catalogue.