Hearts are broken, train whistles blow, an old dog is whipped.
On his latest, Fred Eaglesmith keeps his train running down much the same track Fredheads have become familiar with over the years. But he does provide a couple interesting detours along the route. “Can Dance” and “Nobody Gets Everything” are both interesting experiments in 1960s rave-up rock n roll, much the way many of the tracks off 2010’s Cha Cha Cha explored vaguely retro sounds and different song structures than Fred’s classic narrative style. “Drunk Girl” and “Small Town” are two of Tambourine’s “classic Fred” tunes, though the production situates them so smoothly in with the rest of the album that it is easy for them to slip by without noticing how clearly Fred’s lens is trained on the subjects at hand. The stand out track, for me, is “Engineer,” a trademark Eaglesmith heartbreaker that once seems fresh as hell, despite the fact it just as easily could have been pulled out of the Folkways archive and dusted off. While Tambourine lacks the full cohesive sound and songwriting that made 6 Volts such a powerhouse, the album certainly grows on you with repeated listens, and will be sure to satiate Fredheads until Eaglesmith’s Travelling Steam Show rolls through town again. (e one entertainment, fredeaglesmith.com) Sheldon Birnie