album review

by Mackenzie Herd, Exclaim! The Young Novelists’ sophomore effort, Made Us Strangers, is an exciting set that eschews the glitz and glamour of contemporary country rock’n’roll for a sound that is far more raw and organic. Recording with Zeus’ Carlin Nicholson, the Toronto-based group strove for a sound that was grittier and edgier than their previous effort by composing songs that are thick with electric guitars, rumbling drums and joyful honky-tonk piano. The album, which proudly boasts that it was recorded without pitch correction or click tracks, plays like a performance. It’s Nicholson’s bare bones approach to recording that truly communicates the…    read more.