Music review: Dan Doiron - Stand Back I don't know how loud this thing gets
Mon, Apr 20, 2015.
This is album number three for the Cape Breton blues guitarist, the previous two landing nominations for ECMA blues recording of the year, and this should join the pack for 2016. Stand Back is full of big tunes, and a big sound, with organ, backing singers, horns, and even a flute solo, a damn good one at that. Plus, there's lots of Doiron's licks, bites, stings and leads. Originals such as Killing Each Other Trying To Get Into Heaven are filled with such fireworks, and when Doiron isn't spitting them out, up comes Kim Dunn's organ, or a sting from the horns.
Doiron's also a highly enjoyable lyricist, and never fails to come up with a fine line or two, and a good song premise. The title cut has classic blues swagger, and "When you're swinging by six strings with no safety net, that's affirmation up and down the frets." He can even reframe cliches into something unique and his own: "If time is money, then I blew a fortune/oh that may sound funny but it's not a distortion." There's always lots going on in each song, and it's all worth listening to. But really, check out that flute/guitar interplay between Doiron and Brian McConnell on Slippin' Back Into The Dip, that's a winner right there.
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About Bob Mersereau
Bob Mersereau has been covering music, and the East Coast Music Scene since 1985 for CBC. He's a veteran scene-maker at the ECMA's, knows where the best shows and right parties are happening, and more importantly, has survived to tell the tales. His weekly East Coast music column is heard on Shift on Radio 1 in New Brunswick each Wednesday at 4'45. He's also the author of two national best-selling books, The Top 100 Canadian Albums (2007) and The Top 100 Canadian Singles (2010).