Parkas

The title is ironic, as this gritty Toronto, ON band have released this album eight years posthumously. There's a healthy dose of blues rock, with warped guitars, banjos and an in-barn soundscape, as front-man Michael Brown powers through with thick vocals. Each moment feels like it holds some sort of secret that the band will get together over beers and laugh about when they're older. Even with such precision in instrumentation ("Bad Comedian") and an infectious jump sequence in "Isolation Play," it's hard not to notice that things start to get a little repetitive by the end. They still leave on a high note though, like an old warhorse pushing on.