Rating: NNNN
The affable dreadlocked punk from Montreal who fronted the Doughboys and All Systems Go finally goes solo, but not exactly. From the credits, it’s obvious Kastner busted out the Rolodex. Everyone’s here, from ex-Doughboy Jon Cummins, Alex Lifeson, Fear’s Lee Ving, Jim Cuddy and Descendents bassist Karl Alvarez right down to buddy Evan Dando doing the artwork, and that’s not even half the guest list. The helping hands don’t clutter the end product, which sounds distinctly Kastner, with the remnants of his melodic hardcore days filtered through smartened pop structures. Hopefully, this presages more solo work from Kastner, though something tells me he prefers company.
John Kastner plays the Horseshoe as part of North By Northeast Saturday, June 10.
