Winnipeg’s Honeysliders creep up on you with five classic-rock (think late-70s Eagles meets early-90s Big Sugar) infused hits, guaranteed to get the heads at the Times Change(d) a noddin’. Mixed by everyone’s go-to, John Paul Peters, this self-produced effort showcases competent growls and dirty guitars that are somehow tamed/restrained, as if the raunch is only for show. “Danko and Manuel” isn’t a call out to Sloan’s “Iggy and Angus”, but an angst-ridden back porch anthem for the whiskey-soaked. The title track does The Sheepdogs better than The Sheepdogs, while “Sad Country Song” is just that. Opening and closing with two rousing numbers, “Mercy of Machines” and “Big Bad Man”, these two find the band in its most intriguing form - delivering shout-along choruses that reach for the rafters. If jukeboxes still kicked, this one would eat up a lot of quarters during a lot of bar fights.

Published in Volume 68, Number 21 of The Uniter (February 19, 2014)