Dirt Cult Records – Release Date: 11/26/13

Drop the needle of your record player into the grooves of Canadian Rifle’s newest LP and imagine for a moment that you’re banging two stones together over a pile of kindling, trying desperately to spark a flame. You’re tired, hungry, cold and maybe a little dirty. You want the warmth of the fire, but more importantly you need the light of the blaze to ward off the vicious creatures potentially encircling you in the surrounding darkness. The sparks of feedback in the opening seconds of Deep Ends suddenly burst into the inferno of “Withdraw.” It’s loud, bright and blown out, musically and lyrically setting a tone of frantic desperation that carries throughout the record. The hoarse, smoky vocals voice failures and inadequacies while remaining unequivocally unapologetic, and are accompanied by a fuzzed out guitar, buzzing like a chainsaw through tree limbs. Rhythmic cracks and pops of the drums burst like firewood, jettisoning embers in the air, and the guttural rumble of bass lines act like distant thunder. These elements careen through the nine tracks on Deep Ends, volleying between bouncy and upbeat as in the bass intro of “Pleasant Relief,” to the somber guitar intro of “Looking Back At It,” all the while retaining the rawness and personality the band cultivated over the last ten years and about  a half dozen lineup changes. The album is not just sonically raw; Deep Ends is so lyrically unabashed it will make you blush, articulating volatile relationships in “Ditches,” panic attacks in “Lock Yourself in the Bathroom” or facing the death of a loved one in “Going to Get Fucked Up When You Die.” Canadian Rifle’s gruff exterior and bleak soundscape is tempered with a heart that still beats even though it’s been smashed to pieces in the gutter and run over a couple of times. Pick it up. Dust it off. Get on with it.

– Vito Nusret