Arkells - Morning Report (2016)

Hailing from a gritty industrial town, Arkells have notched four Juno Awards and a Gold Record on their sweat-rusted belts, proving there's still a place for passionate, no bulls*it rock 'n' soul in the mainstream. (In 2015, they were the most-played band on Canadian alt-rock radio.) But the group's new album, Morning Report, betrays a more irreverent, adventurous ethos that more readily recalls the cut-and-paste approach of hip-hop beatmakers than the plug-and-play attack of a live rock band, with click-tracked rhythms, subliminal samples, electronic pulses, and sax and violins threaded into the richly textured mix.