Rating: NNN
While it’s clear how carefully multi-instrumentalist Mark Berube has contrived the rough-hewn Montreal bar atmosphere that pervades his second album, there are two dominant tones on Sketches that conflict with each other in a frustrating way and kind of ruin the mood. There’s the gut-wrenchingly sorrowful tone of slow songs like Sweet Reply and All That You Said Before Is True. Then there’s the rollicking oom-pah-pah whimsical-clown cabaret sound of songs like Bottle And Ticket and Puffed Candy. The juxtaposition of these moods makes you feel like you’ve been hit in the face with a cream pie after finding out that your wife of 17 years has been cheating on you. Mark Berube plays the Renaissance Café October 9.
