Now I’m not sure how popular Alexisonfire was in the ol’ US of A, but man, north of the border, those dudes are/were massive, and AOF’s first offshoot City And Colour (a solo project of guitarist/vocalist Dallas Green) was equally, if not more successful. So it stands to reason that Black Lungs, the side project of AOF’s other guitarist/vocalist Wade McNeil, had a sizeable built-in following from the get-go. But as opposed to treading the same singer-songwriter path as AOF cohort Green, Black Lungs veer in a more traditional punk rock direction, taking cues mostly from late ‘70s U.K. and N.Y. groups (think early Clash and Blank Generation-era Voidoids) but on a slightly more aggressive gruff-punk tip. Good stuff.
–Dave William (Deranged)