The Sadies

They may be slowly phasing out the rockabilly/surf instrumental side of their sound, but this 26-song soundtrack to Ron Mann’s documentary about legendary hot-rodder Ed "Big Daddy” Roth shows that the Sadies can still squeeze the most out of a minute when they have to. In a brilliant move, each piece is named after a favourite venue, which provides at least some point of reference for those who frequently see them live. How much these songs actually reflect the clubs they are named after is of course endlessly debatable, but it’s easy to pick favourite tracks out of loyalty. I’ll take "The Starlight,” "The Matador,” "The Corktown” and "The Black Sheep,” but the endless onslaught of twang-y riffs naturally starts to blur together in short order. While these pieces still work beautifully as vignettes during the normal course of their live shows, Tales of the Rat Fink is recommended for hardcore fans only. Then again, I don’t know many Sadies fans that aren’t hardcore.