Gern f's and Felicity Harmer's tag-team vocals of the haggard old man and the sultry ingénue drive the United Steel Workers of Montreal's second release Kerosene and Coal. This six-piece produces the sort of spiritual music that reconnects city dwellers with the earth they seldom see due to all of the concrete. Although the dream combination of Gern, a guy who sounds kinda like Tom Waits, and Felicity, a lady who kinda sounds like Janice Joplin, are hard to top, it is often the space between the lyrics, like the grass and flowers found in the cracks of a sidewalk, that produce the most emotion. These instrumental flourishes are cultivated by the other Workers who drive each song along with an assortment of guitars, banjos, the telecaster, mandolin and double bass but no drum kit. The United Steel Workers of Montreal are a welcome addition to the urban roots scene that is creeping across Canada like ragweed.

By Rob Pingle
Aug 31, 2007