Joel Plaskett Emergency — Ashtray Rock

A minute into hoser anthem "Drunk Teenagers," there's a gang-hollered, "I hate Clayton Park!" It's a line sure to send panic shivers through the hearts of fans of Plaskett's last band, Thrush Hermit. But the lyric is merely an attention-grabbing dangle to Ashtray Rock's greater narrative. It's really a concept album about two young rockers caught in a band-fracturing love triangle. It's easily the best thing Plaskett's ever done, as well as one of the most ambitiously executed Can-rock records in years. On their own, the songs are superb. In first single "Snowed In/Cruisin'" and "The Instrumental," Plaskett brilliantly reclaims the riff-rock he'd seemingly forgotten in his solo years. The Mamas And The Papas tease of "Nothing More To Say" is ensnaring, and "Fashionable People" is like an anti-Bowie response track plucked from the past. Best, though, is that beyond being excellent songs on their own, they all work towards the greater story, which you'll be busy listening to over and over in order to uncover the subtle details. Ashtray Rock is the album where Plaskett makes his case to follow names like Young, Lightfoot and Cohen.