By Ryan Pike
Because of the involvement of the CRTC in regulating Canadian radio, there’s been a seeming bias against Canadian bands. The rationale is that because of needing to broadcast a certain amount of Canadian content, undeserving bands from the country get played over their more-talented foreign counterparts.
Even so, CRTC rules can get “undeserving” bands on the radio, but they can’t make them popular. The Trews have taken the opportunity presented to them by Canadian radio and turned it into a pair of successful albums. Their third, No Time for Later, seems poised for similar success, although it’s fairly flawed.
The most glaring misstep on No Time for Later is the album’s pacing. In short, it’s frightfully uneven. Opening with three songs that blur together, the album would’ve flowed better opening with the energetic title track and heading into “Feel the Pain” rather than lingering as it does. The same troubles return at the end of the album, as “End of the Line” is a fantastic way to close, but is followed by two more songs.
The Trews’ latest offering, No Time for Later, is the musical equivalent of a bonsai tree–there’s something great in there somewhere, but it needs a great deal of pruning to get to it. As it stands, The Trews have produced a textbook example of a B-/C+ album. Nothing is done badly and the album is an effortless listen, but it’s far from exemplary.