The Trews Aren't Ready To Go Quietly

11/10/08 4:50pm

by Matt Littlefair (CHARTattack)

The hard-working rockers retooled their music for latest album

There's one overwhelming message coming through most everything that Trews vocalist Colin MacDonald is saying: the boys from Antigonish, Nova Scotia have grown up. The band have a new label, a newfound respect for their craft and their third proper full-length, No Time For Later. It represents a bold statement in direction and tone, and it's something MacDonald and his cohorts are fiercely proud of.

"We didn't want to make a repeat of our first album," says MacDonald as he slowly makes his way into Toronto from his home in Niagara Falls. "We didn't want to be the 'Not Ready To Go' band. We wanted to experiment."

The band were in need of some reflection. Their 2005 effort, Den Of Thieves, spawned a handful of minor radio successes, but was muddled. The group seemed unsure of their purpose or direction. No Time For Later is the antithesis of that now long-forgotten confusion. Instead, it's their most assured and cohesive effort yet. Songs are less dependent on stadium-crushing theatrics and more reliant on intricate but simple no-fuss melodies steeped in a roots-rock aesthetic. Touchstones like Creedence Clearwater Revival and Fleetwood Mac flood to the forefront when taking in guitarist John-Angus MacDonald's fretwork or the subtly nuanced bass lines, while drums are more measured and carefully meted out.

Part of that sound came through The Trews' collaboration with producers Werner F and Gus Van Go, the minds behind The Stills breakout disc, Logic Will Break Your Heart. According to MacDonald, their experience with the duo wasn't only a dramatic shift for the band, but a welcomed (and undeniably important) element in the carefully honed sound of No Time.

"They were like slave drivers in the studios," MacDonald says with a laugh. "We came from the school of doing six or seven takes of a song and picking the one with the best energy or best feel and then overdubbing the vocals and guitar solos. With these guys, we did a more modern rock approach. We did the drums, the bass, the guitars and the vocals all separately.

"They were real sticklers, but I think they brought the whole band up to a whole new level."

The production duo specifically targeted MacDonald's lyrics and pushed for more thought and reflection in the substance of his musings. It's only one piece of a larger puzzle, but MacDonald's attention to not only what he's saying, but how he's saying it is a barometer of the band's growth. The Trews are no longer only "singing about girls," as MacDonald put it, but instead they've taken on socio-political topics such as gun control (on the aptly named "Gun Control"). Rest assured, the tried and true guitar-driven songs The Trews are beloved for still dot the track list (despite their will for change, first single "Hold Me In Your Arms" is a typical Trews exercise in strut-ready rock), but they're paired up against more reflexive efforts like "Paranoid Freak."

"I'm at an age now where those kinds of things [political issues] are bugging me more and more," says MacDonald. "As you get older and start to watch the news a little more, pay closer attention, you start to see inconsistencies. It ultimately comes out in your music.

"I'm certainly prouder of what I'm saying now. I had never really thought lyrics were that important, and now I'm much more into them. I think they're really important now."

The band's growth and maturation have been, in part, aided by both a heightened sense of the music world and an acute awareness of where they fit in it. They endured an important, though humbling step last fall. The Trews took a crack at the European market for the first time, where they were virtually unknown.

"We realized that there are a shitload of bands out there, all trying to accomplish the same thing," says MacDonald. "It made us tighten up and work harder and it made us realize that, ‘Hey, we're not the only band in the world and that you have to be really fucking good all the time.'"

In the end, it was a worthwhile experience. "We became a better, stronger band," concludes MacDonald.



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Gun Play

As concerned as The Trews are about gun control, there'll probably always be more musicians romancing having firearms. Check this sample of songs about shotguns:

Guns ‘N Roses "Shotgun Blues"
Edwin "Shotgun"
Plan 15 "Shotgun Enema"
Ronnie James Dio "Shotgun Boogie"
The Sound Explosion "Shotgun Of Love"

The following feature is from the March 2008 issue of Chart Magazine. To purchase the issue, head on over to the Chart Shop.