NORTHERN PASSAGES

Northern Passages is replete with their trademark blend of psych, alt-country, and Morricone-themed rock. They did, however, exclude any with a hotrod or surf flavor on this eleven-tune outing. Following a theme started two albums ago with songs titled "Another Year Again," "Another Day Again," "Another Tomorrow Again," and "Another Yesterday Again," we get "Another Season Again" in this batch, a rocket-fueled, in-yer-face rocker.  "There Are No Words," also gooses up the adrenaline, with gnarly buzz-saw guitar throughout, tempered with pedal steel at the finish. Personal musical taste, as subjective as it is, had me at an impasse on "It's Easy (Like Walking)," a song they did with buddy Kurt Vile. Upon first hearing it, I found the seemingly endless repetition of the title so annoying, I almost threw a shoe at the computer. Of course, this was the song the band later chose to spotlight on their album PR. Further playing of it had me liking it more, as the tune itself is nice, but it still rests at #11 to me, in a collection of more enjoyable songs on here. (https://blurtonline.com).