[.ca] Tripping Up the Stairs

Amazon.ca:
The first official release from Spirit of the West laces clear-eyed folk traditionalism and New Agey production with hints of the rock and pop leanings these Vancouver Celts would embrace on their early '90s albums Save This House, Go Figure, and Faithlift. Still primarily a trio consisting of Geoffrey Kelly, John Mann, and J. Knutson, the group sound relatively compact, tinkering their way through snappy reels such as "An Honest Gamble" and "Homeland," and the bluegrass-tinted "'Til the Cows Come Home." There are signs of the politically minded efforts to come in the anti-war tune "Peacetime." More noteworthy is Kelly and Mann's knack for alternately romantic/boozy paeans to the old sod, particularly the single and early fan favourite "The Crawl." The flood ballad "When Rivers Rise" sees the Celtic formula applied, with heart, to British Columbia's own sometimes-unforgiving landscape. All of it is dashed with copious tin whistle and salty sea air, of course. --Kieran Grant

• Honest Gamble/Tripping up the Stairs
• Our Station
• Peacetime
• Room Without a View (Stella)
• Crawl
• Homelands/The Kesh/The Blackhorn Stick
• Mists of Crofton
• Till the Cows Come Home
• When the Rivers Rise
• Be Right/Pigeon on the Gate