John and The Sisters
John and The Sisters (2004)

Review by: Craig Curtice
Date: 6/15/04

Side-projects and collaborations are like the music industry’s version of free agency. It’s completely normal today for musicians to record stuff all over the place under different names and labels. Hell, Gene Simmons just released an album containing a song recorded with Frank Zappa. Uh yeah, Zappa’s still dead – Gene obviously used some old studio leftovers and mixed himself in.

Wow, talk about getting way off track there. My simple point was that John and the Sisters is kind of a makeshift band of convenience put together by lead by singer John Dickie and hot guitarist Kevin Breit, who’s played with Cyro Baptista, Cassandra Wilson, and most impressively with Norah Jones. Along with bassist Ian Desouza, drummer Gary Taylor, and keyboardist Rob Gusevs, there’s also a host of guests lending a hand in this blues jambalaya from Canada.

Much like the rustic album artwork, the music is a boozy Northern blues-sounding affair. “Money Changes Everything” features some hard luck, low-fi reverb, “Good Day” is a swaying number that blows a .10 on a breathalyzer scale, and “Big Bomb” plods along in a rubbery after-hours daze. Throw in a few oddball instrumental vignettes like “Bad Machine” (a child scolding a metal box for fifteen seconds) and you have yourself an album. While there’s much to enjoy there are a few roadblocks. “Pralene” tries too hard to be chipper, “Faithful” should have been pulled over at the border, and “Penguin Walk” sounds a bit too close to Dire Straits’ “Money For Nothing.”

Nevertheless, I envision John and The Sisters nicely accompanying early-evening outdoor BBQ’s in the middle of nowhere. Break out the log furniture and Jack Daniels, but watch out for splinters and spiders.