Jay Sparrow

At his finest, Jay Sparrow delivers devastatingly perfect barroom country with a ragged punk rock edge. Formerly of punk band the Murder City Sparrows, the Edmonton, AB-based musician made his twangy solo debut in 2008 with The Running. On his second full-length release, Sparrow takes on a darker sound. Although there's a good bit of fun to be had with dirty-sexy rockers like "Take Me Over" and "Run" (with its eerily Fogerty-esque vocals), songs like "The Light," "The Dark" and "Rest of My Days" hit the mark with gritty arrangements that complement Sparrow's bleaker songwriting inclinations. There are some unexpected moments: grimy blues guitar rears its head once or twice and the occasional electronic chiming and droning adds an experimental flavour. All of this hints at the possibility that Sparrow has yet to fully explore his creative boundaries; it could be that Jay Sparrow's best is yet to come.