Expedition

Les Cowboys Fringants' sixth album, L'EXPEDITION, does its best to live up to its own title. The music travels far and wide not only from previous efforts but, perhaps most strikingly, from song to song. The combo can play a quiet maritime fiddle-based piece like "Rue des Souvenirs" and immediately turn toward an angrier, bouncing political rant in "Monsieur." It's that variety that enlivens the album--one can listen to a simple singer/songwriter ballad in "Train de Vie" and enjoy a rousing group drinking song in the closing track. And it never quite gets old. There's something to be said for the group's ability to turn out song after song in wildly varying styles without ever sounding too eager to whet every listener's appetite individually, and without ever breaking the tone of the album as a whole. Despite the variance in style, the quality of the performances and the general mood and tone within the songs remain throughout. There's a sense of nostalgia in the music, and a sense of the music as representative of a simpler time.