The Tom Fun Orchestra is like a shepherd’s pie containing generous portions of Great Big Sea and Pogues with a few dashes of The Decemberists. The result is a much edgier sound than GBS but not as raunchy as Shane McGowan. Lyrically, they remind me of Lenny Gallant and The Headstones at the same time, with some of the darker subjects, like heroin withdrawal (“Animal Mask”). Given the grit and edge of the rest of the album, the title track, buried in the middle, with a full chorus everyone singing every word feels like a curtain call with the band arm in arm. With every song you get swept up in the raucous music coming at you from every direction, and before you know it, you’re singing at the top of your lungs. The Orchestra is a wild and wooly cacophony of instruments and sounds swirling and twirling to an infectious beat. What I especially enjoy is how seamlessly it plays, the tone, topic and tempo may change, but even the slow songs feel like they belong exactly where they are. Case in point, after four raucous tunes, “Lungs” is an ever-growing crescendo building from a whisper to a roar. Even though they’re from Cape Breton, I’d like to reference the Rock, in saying “Earthworm Heart” is like “Sunday Morning Coming Down” with Screech. (Company House, tomfun.ca) Broose Tulloch