Year in Rock 2011 Nominee: The Trews
Hope & Ruin
From: Hope & Ruin
Released: April 12
The Trews have always been underdogs. Just being a band from Antigonish, Nova Scotia is hard enough. But, when they burst onto the Canadian scene in 2003 with their debut House of Ill Fame, an album that came out of the gate swinging and rocked with such swagger you had to root for them, you thought "they're really going to make it". However, House of Ill Fame stalled out and never achieved anything higher than modest success. So, they got legendary producer Jack Douglas (who has worked with John Lennon among many others) to helm the boards for their follow up Den of Thieves. It was a really good album and spawned four hits in Canada, so their record label turned their eye toward the south, releasing the album in the U.S. You pulled for them, thinking "they just might make it". Of course, the Americans didn't take hold of the band, and it was back to the drawing board again.
The Trews' third album, No Time For Later, was a step down from previous efforts, but it didn't stop them from pushing. First single Hold Me In Your Arms was released following its premiere at the Grey Cup (which, as an east coast boy, I don't care about despite being told time and time again how Canadians love it so), and a couple of singles actually got significant play on Sirius satellite radio in the States. Again, you thought they were going to make it. However, interest was muted south of the border. Which brings us to Hope & Ruin.
Trying way to hard to be a massive and successful rock album, Hope & Ruin fails due to its ambition. Sure, all the hallmarks of a smash are here; sweeping ballads, ballsy rockers, guitars falling over guitars. The problem is the songs which, for the most part, are either not strong enough to support their frameworks or plain embarrassing in their mainstream aspiration. Take recent single The World I Know, which has a nice sound, a huge chorus, and more lyrical cliches than I thought humanly possible to cram into a song. Or Burned, a track the band says almost didn't make the record. It shouldn't have; it's like they're trying to channel Jimmy Buffett and the Doobie Brothers simultaneously, and I can't figure out why anyone would want to.
So, a few choice singles aside (and, for what it's worth, the title track is an utterly fantastic song), the Trews have released a bit of a dud with Hope & Ruin. It's an album that they desperately wanted to be their big U.S. breakthrough, but they overthought the process to the point where the songs suffer because of it. Now, with another near miss in their canon, I wonder if things will change. I, for one, hope the Trews can keep their minds off the south for their next album and just be themselves on record. I don't know what it is that makes them seemingly want to become the Nickelback of the east coast, but in striving for such a silly goal as American acceptance, the Trews are slowly starting to lose their fans at home.
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