Earlier this week, we told you about the latest live release – as well as an upcoming studio album – from the Nick Moss Band. If you’re looking for a little something additional to help hold you over until the arrival of that double studio CD from Moss in May, one good place to look is the just-released sophomore album from Toronto singer and guitarist Jake Chisholm entitled No More Sorrow.
With a sound that blends shades of Moss, Matt Schofield, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Gary Clark Jr., and fellow Canadians Steve Hill and Monkeyjunk, Chisholm and his bandmates Chris Banks (bass) and Sly Juhas (drums) lay down some seriously rootsy grooves, from the gritty opening title track and harmonica-laced “Weigh You Down”, to a “Merry-Go-Round” filled with Stevie Ray Vaughan-ish riffs that speeds and slows just like the playground equipment which inspired it, to the light, airy “Swamp Stomp” with its Zeppelin-esque feel (think more “Going to California” or a mellower “Gallows Pole” than “Whole Lotta Love”).
Also worth mentioning are the soulful, Hendrix-like ballad “Just Because You Want To”, the chorus of which reminds that “like holding sunshine, in the palm of your hand/ just because you want to, doesn’t mean that you can”; a raw and powerful 2014 live performance of “I Want You the Way You Are” that resembles something you’d hear from Steve Hill or Gary Clark, Jr.; and a jazzy, matter-of-fact “I’m Still Alone”, with the haunting, pointed closer “You Never Will” and a few more country-flavored numbers in the creeping “Is There Another Man” and rockabilly-style “I’m on Fire” rounding out the 10-song project.
In addition to the solid instrumentation from this power trio, Chisholm is also a gifted songwriter. We’re not sure what kind of sorrow we might have missed hearing on Chisholm’s 2013 debut Diamond in a Coalmine (you better believe we’ll be going back to check it out), but we guarantee there will only be joy when you add this one to your collection!