For a new album that The Sheepdogs didn't initially set out to make, Changing Colours is a stunning achievement.
Proud purveyors of guitar-driven modern-day retro rock, the triple Juno Award-winning Saskatoon-based quintet has expanded its sound on Changing Colours to encompass more styles and hues to enhance the Sheepdogs' trademark beef-and-boogie twin-axe riffs, hooks, shuffles and long-haired aesthetic.
'We identify strongly with rock 'n roll, but there's definitely some branching out,' says Ewan Currie, The Sheepdogs' singer, guitarist, songwriter and occasional and yes, you're reading this correctly clarinetist. 'The sounds we use on this there's more keyboards featuring Shamus and more stringed instruments. It's still rock 'n roll but there are more colours.'
It's also great, passionate music born out of spontaneity: first resonating in the 17-song album's euphoric opener Nobody and continuing to flavour such invigorating numbers as the electrifying Saturday Night and the driving I've Got A Hole Where My Heart Should Be, the record's infectious first single.
But The Sheepdogs haven't only stretched their sonic palate: they've also expanded stylistically, tastefully embracing other genres as well.
There's the country-lite feel of Let It Roll, the Stax-soul aura of the mid-tempo anthem I Ain't Cool that features trombone and the resplendent Latin-rock vibe that fuels The Big Nowhere.
This is a 14+ show. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.