Everything You Need

For most folks, life rarely stops giving you reasons to be aggravated, but the ability (and the need) to explode into rage seems to fade with time. Drew Thomson of Single Mothers has built a career out of being articulately angry, but 12 years on from the bands formation and after several years sober, you cant help but wonder if hes going to keep summoning the bile that has been his trademark. For those who concern themselves with such things, Single Mothers fourth album, 2022s Everything You Need, might seem worrying on the surface. The punk rock ferocity of the groups excellent 2014 debut Negative Qualities has been toned down, and the instrumental backing often sounds more like uptempo indie rock ("Enough for You," "O-Zone") or refined pop-punk ("Soak") than the gritty report that fueled Thomsons rage in the past, and the musicians have a harder time goading Thomson into his best work. Thankfully, Everything You Need picks up some steam in its second half, even if this still delivers less punch than before, and if Thomson seems less like a plausible threat than he was a decade before, hes only changed so much. Hes more inclined to see the funny side of his objects of rage, impersonating the guy scamming his neighbors wi-fi on "Things," rapping like the lost Beastie Boy on "O-Zone," and not being able to make up his mind at the food court in "Too Many Choices." Hes not so much angry as severely bummed out on the moody closer, "Anytime Anything." That said, Thomsons flashes of wit seem more like a coping mechanism than the work of a man who has unexpectedly discovered happiness, and "Enough for You," "Soak," and "Baby Bird" are expressions of purposeful rage from a guy who knows what to do with it. At his best, Drew Thomson is the Lewis Black of Canadian punk rock, a pissed-off guy with plenty to say and a very engaging way of saying it, and while Everything You Need doesnt quite capture him at his best, it finds him maturing without losing his edge, and it bodes well for Single Mothers future. ~ Mark Deming