In the tradition of Great Big Sea and Spirit of the West, Toronto’s Enter the Haggis reintroduces a fusion of Canadian-Celtic Rock ‘N’ Roll that has sparsely been celebrated since the close of the 90s. And although they may not be a household name as of yet, their latest release, Gutter Anthems, is a fantastic argument in their favor.
The album begins with a smooth church organ alongside a bagpipe lead in its minute-long intro, abruptly followed by a punk inspired drumbeat as the next track takes off. Brian Buchanan, multi-instrumentalist and one of the band’s two lead vocalists, offers his pop-friendly voice to the album’s first real song, “The Litter and the Leaves.” The song is energetic, as the drums change from a constant punk beat into quarter time mid-chorus, and then continue to shift throughout, making the shape of the song change as it progresses. Though this song is a promising start to the album, the next few songs shift downhill.
“DNA,” perhaps the worst song on the album, has a promising guitar-driven intro, as bagpipes once again take the lead. The chorus, although catchy to a degree, is annoying for its simple hook, “Boys will be boys / They never really have a choice.” The lyrics, although offering an interesting progression and moral throughout the verses of the song, seem juvenile and below the quality of the rest of this album. The song as a whole is simply uninteresting and obnoxious.
But Gutter Anthems plays in the key of perfection from the instrumental track “Did You Call me an Albatross?” onwards. The track features a three-part fiddle melody atop a steady bass drum. “Noseworthy and Piercy,” which expresses the true story of some lost fisherman from Newfoundland, carries an intriguing piano riff underneath Buchanan’s solid vocal performance, complemented by two additional vocal harmonies.
“The Death of Johnny Mooring,” pounds in with sustained power chords, before moving into a very rock-heavy riff. Imagine Rage Against the Machine with an added fiddle and you may get the idea. The song even carries a Tom Morello inspired whammy solo, but on a fiddle. The next song, “Suburban Plains,” carries a beautiful melody over a 5/4 beat. As the band carries the ballad into a waltz, Trevor Lewington’s soothing voice runs this track into its uplifting chorus, “So let this be the end of everything that could / I’m so tired of all of the things I’ll never know” as he reflects on his youth.
The seven minute long “Real Life / Alibis” evolves from a folky ballad into a fully realized rocker, as ascending piano chords drive a half-time chorus. “Bury My Demons” showcases Craig Downie’s bassy voice during its short progression. A reverberated Rhodes stretches over a bit of the band’s Bluegrass routes at the start of “The Ghosts of Calico,” segueing into a very Tool-esque guitar riff. And the album cadences with “Broken Line,” which builds an epic staccato fiddle riff off of an Album Leaf-like piano and cello progression before the guitars and drums drive the whole thing home.
If Enter the Haggis are anything, they are certainly diverse, bringing a plethora of contrasting inspirations to the table to develop their own completely unique sound. Gutter Anthems is a perfect display of this ability.
