The Trews
w/ The Daniel Wesley Band. Apr 20 (9pm). Edmonton Event Centre (WEM). Tickets: $25, available through Ticketmaster (451-8000/ticketmaster.ca). 

Having recently completely a six-week tour of the States opening for former KISS guitarist Ace Frehley, The Trews are as hard-working as ever, still climbing the rockpile, still playing to new faces in new places, and still getting the kind of feedback that makes it all worthwhile.

Well, for the most part.

“I was approached in New York City by a guy who said he was a fan but that thought I should leave my politics out of it,” says vocalist Colin MacDonald. “And that his sister wanted to kick my ass.

“They don’t like it when Canadians poke their noses into their politics,” he continues with some bemusement. 

The incident wasn’t the first of its kind for the Nova Scotia-born, Toronto-based four-piece down south since the release of their third album, No Time for Later. One track in particular has caused all the trouble: “Gun Control,” which MacDonald wrote following the Virginia Tech massacre that left 32 people dead.

“I don’t really see it as a political issue,” he says. “I see it as a fucking frustrating issue. For a while it seemed to happen once or twice a month, where there were kids being senselessly killed. I think that kind of thing transcends borders and politics, and I was angry about it and wrote that song—it’s an angry song and a reactionary song. Maybe it was irresponsible, maybe it was necessary, but it’s hard to see anyone not feeling that way when they see some fucking idiot talking about how they should arm kids at school to protect them.”

New songs like “Gun Control” and “Paranoid Freak”—inspired by the culture of fear perpetuated by the U.S’ “War on Terror” (and its effects on people like The Trews who make frequent crosses at the border)—mark something of a departure for the classic rock-inspired, party anthem-peddling Canucks. (Here’s a band that isn’t afraid of adding little more cowbell.) MacDonald chalks it up to getting older, wiser, and little more confident as a lyricist.

“Our early songs were literally just big rock songs that didn’t really have that much meaning,” he says. “There’s still songs like that on this album—like our first single [‘Hold Me in Your Arms’]. But as I get older, I just don’t want to keep writing the same things over and over again. You want to start spreading your wings and, for better or for worse, taking a risk.”

The same sentiment seemed to hold true, sonically speaking, as The Trews recorded their latest album. Somewhat frustrated with their rep as a solid live act, but somewhat less inspired studio craftsmen, they took a more painstaking approach to piecing their tunes together this time around. Previously, the band would all assemble in the studio and blast through a few takes, selecting the best one, but this time around they paid more attention to each component of the sessions.

“We did the drums in Toronto, the bass in Toronto, separately,” MacDonald says, “and then we did the guitars and vocals in Brooklyn. It was a long process, but we’re happy with the results. I was really excited to do it that way, to make a really good-sounding recording, but now I’m at a place where I wouldn’t mind going in and doing something live off the floor. Every time we finish something, I rebel against the way we just did it.”