Ca va bien, today?, the long awaited third album from Winnipeg-based country-roots outfit The Minglers, has arrived with a twang, but I couldn’t help feeling a little confused. A far cry from the driven sound and firmly grounded country-rock tracks we heard on their successful 2003 album Brokenhead, the bizarre lyrics and recordings that sound like drunken jams present on this album left me feeling like I was being left out of a very complex inside joke. Unfortunately, the unique combination of frontman Knick Knackerson’s lilting yet whiney vocals, and the inclusion of an array of well-played instruments from the kazoo to something called the “muckbucket guitar” isn’t enough to keep the often-nonsensical lyrics afloat. Ultimately, Ca va bien, today? left this listener wondering if perhaps Je ne sais quois would have been a more apt album title.

Published in Volume 63, Number 25 of The Uniter (March 26, 2009)