4 stars
Nova Scotia’s Joel Plaskett successfully merges his ’70s-style rock side and his mellower acoustic on the Emergency’s latest effort. It’s a loose concept album based on the fictional story of a band from Nova Scotia forming in high school at the teen hangout “Ashtray Rock” (an actual place in Northcliffe Park), then later breaking up over a girl.
The album kicks off with the sing-along party anthem “Drunk Teenagers”. Following that is the title track, a little piano-led ditty (played by none other than The Faces/Small Faces Ian McLagan), and then “Fashionable People”, a song likely to have fans arguing over how good it is or isn’t. The song has got a great groove and a killer bridge leading into the chorus … but then it gets to the chorus, a poppy falsetto bit that, depending on your taste is either really cool or really irritating. It’s grown on me a bit, but still. That however, is the only part of the album.