Sam Roberts — Chemical City

Bookended by stellar tracks "The Gate," a chugging psychedelic rocker, and "A Stone Would Cry Out," a bleak piano ballad, Sam Roberts' sophomore album covers a lot of ground. Perhaps not as much as Roberts and co. did to make it (Australia to Montreal), but the grandeur of vast distances and wide-open landscapes resonates, particularly on the epic "Mind Flood."

Though a few songs feel underdeveloped and overly reliant on the trad-rock rulebook, Chemical City offers another potent concoction of propulsive rock, melodic pop and a little tenderness — qualities that coalesce beautifully on "An American Draft Dodger In Thunder Bay."

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