The Utilities

Heavy South // Independent

“Born To Work” is the first track off The Utilities new album and it says a lot about why Heavy South is so darn good. This Lethbridge group is a working band, they have been grinding it out, putting in the hours to achieve continual growth. On their fourth outing the effort has paid off with their best and most ambitious album to date. Although best described as folk-rock, Heavy South veers in directions that make that make it much too interesting to fall alongside others within the genre. Instrumental tangents, psychedelic splashes and retro nods permeate through the ten tracks with songs ranging in tempos and moods. An all out rocker with crunchy guitar ends and is followed by an acoustic track with heartbreaking lap steel wails throughout. The band really steps into new territory on “Deep Freezing,” the best track of the record. The song has an urgent vibe, the drums and bass feed off each other creating steady momentum while piano offers a midnight mood. The guitar work is impeccable as it experiments with stabs and squeals over the repetitive, churning groove. Sometimes it can seem like folk-rock acts are a dime a dozen, on Heavy South, The Utilities rip apart that sentiment and rise to the top of the heap.