Album Details

• Artist: The Beauties
• Album: The Beauties
• Label: Six Shooter
• Year of Release: 2010
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2010-12-11

Being named the best Roots band in Toronto might seem like a back-handed compliment at first blush: how many other roots bands are there in any one city, and to whose roots are they paying homage? But The Beauties easily make you look beyond any hype on this self-titled debut. What we have here is ten simple, sharp, three chord rockers that borrow from pop, alt-country and, as on the break of the opener, "Fashion Blues," a pretty cool nod to early melodic punk like Buzzcocks and Dead Boys.

Guitarists and co-lead vocalists Darin McConnell and Shawn Creamer also dabble ably in twangy romance ("Without You,""You and"), though their strengths clearly are the rockers like "Tired Fired Blues" and "Heaviest of the World," the latter marred a little bit by silly metal touches, but still rocking. They also credible channel a 70s singer-songwriter style for a bit in "Heart of Stone."

This is a fun rocking record by a band that can rock and has a genuine sense of humor and fun. The Beauties are surprising on almost every song, and for a debut, that says a lot. So forget the Roots thing and just check out the band.

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