THE UNITED STEEL WORKERS OF MONTREAL Kerosene & Coal is the second album by Montreal’s kings of citygrass, The United Steel Workers of Montreal, following up their outstanding debut, Broken Trucks and Bottles. Showing how raucous and affecting this blues-y, urban, alt-country band can be, the songs on Kerosene & Coal start from the grit of Montreal’s south-west neighbourhoods before tearing down truck routes to move past highway pit stops for gas-station melodramas and back-road drag races, with a bank robbery thrown in for good measure. Well stocked with twelve 80-proof tracks that explore true love (both requited and the other kind), the fringes of the workaday life, love’s desperation, redemption, and the camaraderie of a neighbourhood bar at last call, Kerosene & Coal handily captures the infectious draw of The USWM. The six-piece band gives Kerosene & Coal their own unique sound. Gern f.’s gritty voice trades off growls and whispers, providing a boisterous counterpart to Shawn ‘Gus’ Beauchamp’s earnest, emotionally raw vocals on songs such as “Ask Me To Stay” and “Union Man”. But it’s Felicity Hamer who delivers the knockout punch, revealing the emotional power of the Steel Workers as she turns a sultry rasp into a satin-smooth drawl. Gern and Gus have perfected their two-guitar attack, while Matt Watson’s soulful telecaster roots you to the speaker. Roger Dawson’s stand-up bass provides deft backing and Kevin McNeilly plays banjo and mandolin with feverish intensity. The twelve tracks on Kerosene & Coal were written by Gus and Gern, developed by the band, and recorded at Montreal’s artist-centric UrbanHanded Works Studio, where they were able to retain control over recording and production, allowing this album to be a true follow up to the success of Broken Trucks and Bottles. The United Steel Workers of Montreal were voted Montreal’s #1 Folk/Roots Band and #3 Best Live Act, as well as placing #5 on the !Earshots Folk/Blues/Roots National Radio Charts. The band has been receiving critical acclaim, playing the CBC/Sirius showcase at NXNE, Pop Montreal Festival, The Quebec City Summer Festival, and were nominated for the Quebec Independent Music Awards for best Country/Folk band and made Scene Magazines best live shows of the year.
http://2008.sxsw.com/music/showcases/band/2891.html
