American Band Rock: 54*40's Yes to Everything

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) hasn’t done us any good if it hasn’t meant free trade of 54*40’s albums.

Canada has always impressed me, and once again they continue to be superior than the world’s superpower just of south of their border. Whereas the United States labels haven’t even given 54*40 a distribution deal in years, Canada treats the band as favorite sons and the government supports the creation of their art through the Canada Music Fund. Get on a Canadian Internet seller, cross those international distribution boundaries, do your own NAFTA thing, and order yourself 54*40’s latest, Yes to Everything, because it’s all back—blistering guitar riffs, punk dance beats, pop lyrics, and vamp-time jams.

Well, it’s not all back. Phil Comparelli amicably took leave of the band for personal reasons, but Dave Genn (formerly of the Matthew Good Band) admirably swings the ax while also adding much with his keyboard work. Partly due to Genn’s infectious guitar work, Yes to Everything is arms with recognizable hooks that are wielded by 54*40’s punk air coupled with solid songcraft. It’s their Smithereens album, amped up nods to 60’s guitar rockabilly. “Easy to Love” is the like Smithereens’ “Girl Like You” where the guitar riff is king. “All About Love” does a Smithereens break it down only to bring it on again with full force. “Blue Plate Special” adds handclaps on the backbeat. Then there’s a nod to Katrina & the Waves’ “Walking on Sunshine” with the opening rhythm on “Calling You Out.”

A growing part of 54*40’s sound over the last few albums, Yes to Everything also has spots of dance-inducing rhythm. There’s the disco ball rock jam of “Golden Sun.” “Stopline” is a funk blues vamp with a melodic chorus spilling into a near-scat, “Too many lines/Too many die/Too many lies.”

Singer/guitarist Neil Osborne’s keywords are here too: love and lies—frequent words and themes in the 54*40 catalog. The lyrics have always been fairly simple, but combined as poetry sung to great music, the lyrics uncover complexities that are far from being straight-forward. “God won’t listen to all this killing/And who is willing to go on and on about love?” (All About Love) does more to explore contradictions between the love of Christ and the rhetoric of war than any theological treatise.

“On the Road Home” travels back to acoustic sounds amid the electric guitars, a combination that typified Fight for Love. “On the Road Home” closes the album, a sound that fuels the car for a journey.

WIN 54*40’s Yes to Everything
Two people will win free copies of 54*40’s Yes to Everything. Enter Now! Please send an email to pastorsquires@redeemermanty.com. Winners will be asked to send $1.50 in postage (Non-U.S. residents will be asked to pay the required postage through PayPal). Thanks!

Thanks to 54*40, True North Records, and Divine Industries for the review and giveaway CDs.