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Enter the Haggis: Whitelake

  Tobias Fischer

Not a lot of fiddle-stomping Celtic jam-outs from this Toronto crew lately, as they’re growing up, more or less.

The problem one could have with this is that vocally they can sound boy-band-ishly emo, like on “Headlights 1 & 2” here. But if you can somehow walk off all the agony of that stuff, this collection of tunes is remarkably solid, gathering together a bunch of sounds that evoke Mumford & Sons, Allman Brothers, and of course Flogging Molly. It definitely feels collaborative, given the diverse range of hooks that show up, some of which are big-hearted show-stoppers meant for wowing Bonnaroo crowds and such.

“Follow” is the closest threat to a ren-faire jam, but it eventually quiets down after a folk-rock fashion.

By Eric Saeger

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