The Fuse Review – Colin Bryce May 2015

The Fuse: Brilliant Sun (3ampfuse/unherdmusic.com)First of all let me provide you – the international readership – with a bit of the history of this Western Canadian roots-rock outfit.Back during the explosion of new music in the late 70s the Fuse, as they were then known, were a popular local attraction in their hometown of Winnipeg. The line-up then (and now) consisted of brothers Jeff, Don and Paul Hatcher, and their close friend David Briggs. Alongside their many original tunes the band performed classics by the Kinks, Stones, Chuck Berry and the likes of Graham Parker, Nils Lofgren and Elvis Costello. A couple of name and line-up changes (The Six, Jeffrey Hatcher and the Big Beat) followed and eldest brother Jeff ends up in Vancouver in a line-up featuring pop legend Billy Cowsill. Calling themselves the Blue Shadows they released two critically acclaimed – though not very well-known – albums. My recommendation to you here now is that you track those two albums down.

After the demise of the Blue Shadows, eldest brother Jeff returns to his hometown and the gang (brothers Don, Paul and David Briggs) get back together to do some new music. Augmented by bassist John Neal and multi-instrumentalist/songwriter extraordinaire Ken Pinchin the line-up becomes known as Hatcher/Briggs and release the Getting There from Here CD (2010). Turns out that was just a teaser and the sold-out local gigs (infrequent but always stellar) were encouraging enough to re-christen themselves the Fuse and get another long player under their belts.

So, here we are now in 2015 with the latest by the re-christened Fuse. The rusted out car on the cover is hardly reflective of the music within. A fully restored El Camino might have been more appropriate in this instance. The band’s mature blend of countrified roots-rock, funky Band-esque bomp, psyche and baroque pop, and track after track of harmony-fuelled lyrical splendour place them head and shoulders over countless pretenders and if all goes well this carefully crafted gem should find itself in regular rotation on any number of radio programs and music players still dedicated to real people playing real music with all their heart and soul.

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