On Hope & Ruin, their fourth studio album and fifth album overall, the Trews, a Canadian quartet, continue to purvey mainstream rock music.
Their beats are steady, their guitars chime and clang, and lead vocalist Colin MacDonald sings of romantic misadventure in a throaty, phlegmatic tenor.
In the Trews' case, "mainstream rock" means something akin to the radio format called "classic rock," except, of course, that the Trews are a 21st century group and classic rock connotes music of the '70s.
But that's what they sound like.
Taking the Canadian tag, it's possible to hear the Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive in their music, along with such classic rock standard bearers as Creedence Clearwater Revival (particularly in the song "I'll Find Someone Who Will") and Bob Seger.
It may be that, traveling in Canada rather than in American media centers, the Trews are able to encounter fans of artists like that and satisfy them.
Hope & Ruin builds like a concert set to the 11th track, "Burned," as MacDonald repeats the words "something like that" over and over, and a high-pitched lead guitar line that might be played by the ghost of Duane Allman pierces the arrangement.
Then, the acoustic "You Gotta Let Me In" serves as the decompressing encore.
At a real show, they might be expected to follow with a cover, and a good choice would be BTO's "Takin' Care of Business.".
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Misery Loves CompanyGord Sinclair, The Trews | The Trews | Play | 02:57 | 6 MB | 22 MB |
| 2 | One by OneGord Sinclair, The Trews | The Trews | Play | 03:41 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 3 | People of the DeerGord Sinclair, The Trews | The Trews | Play | 04:01 | 9 MB | 30 MB |
| 4 | Stay with MeGord Sinclair, The Trews | The Trews | Play | 03:43 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 5 | Hope & RuinGord Sinclair, The Trews | The Trews | Play | 03:59 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 6 | If You Wanna Start AgainGord Sinclair, The Trews | The Trews | Play | 04:35 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 7 | The World, I KnowDave Rave, Gord Sinclair, The Trews | The Trews | Play | 02:40 | 6 MB | 19 MB |
| 8 | Dreaming ManGord Sinclair, The Trews | The Trews | Play | 03:50 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 9 | I'll Find Someone Who WillRon Hynes, Gord Sinclair, The Trews | The Trews | Play | 03:40 | 8 MB | 27 MB |
| 10 | Love Is the Real ThingGord Sinclair, The Trews | The Trews | Play | 03:05 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 11 | BurnedGord Sinclair, The Trews | The Trews | Play | 05:07 | 11 MB | 39 MB |
| 12 | You Gotta Let Me InGord Sinclair, The Trews | The Trews | Play | 03:05 | 7 MB | 19 MB |
| 44 mins | 101 MB | |||||
| 44 mins | 312 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Bastedo | Photography |
| 2 | Peggy Dalton | Additional Personnel, Vocals (Background) |
| 3 | Sean Dalton | Drums, Group Member, Percussion, Vocals (Background) |
| 4 | Mike Fraser | Mixing |
| 5 | Jeff Heisholt | Keyboards |
| 6 | Aaron Holmberg | Engineer |
| 7 | Ryan Hryciuk | Package Design |
| 8 | Ron Hynes | Composer |
| 9 | Colin MacDonald | Group Member, Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals |
| 10 | John-Angus MacDonald | Group Member, Guitar, Producer, Vocals (Background) |
| 11 | Kate MacDonald | Additional Personnel, Vocals (Background) |
| 12 | Erika Nielson | Additional Personnel, Cello |
| 13 | Dave Rave | Composer |
| 14 | Kayla Rocca | Photography |
| 15 | Brad Salter | Assistant |
| 16 | Gord Sinclair | Additional Personnel, Bass, Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Harmonica, Producer |
| 17 | Nyles Spencer | Assistant Engineer |
| 18 | Jack Syperek | Bass, Group Member, Vocals (Background) |
| 19 | The Trews | Composer, Primary Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |