Rain Over St.Ambrose

Coming barely a year after their initial four-track EP, Rain Over St. Ambrose's full-length debut improves on the meat and potatoes modern rock sound the Yarmouth quintet previously established. Singer Cory LeBlanc's voice is the soulful focal point of their music, which mixes the heavy guitar work of Wintersleep's early albums with momentary lapses into Gaslight Anthem-style Bosscore. But the highlight of Truth For News is Rain Over St. Ambrose's knack for writing rock anthems, like the rollicking "Walking Home" or "DG Gold Paint." Given the raw, slice-of-small-town-life lyrical bent of these 11 tracks, louder and dirtier guitars would seem in order. As it stands, the vocals are a tad too bright, overpowering the rest of the instruments. However, it's hard to argue with an unaffected group writing songs as good as these.