Search - Cowboy Junkies :: Open

By this stage in the Cowboy Junkies' career, surprises are few and far between and 2001's Open is no different. The dreamy Toronto quartet remains on a slow boil, torn between Margo Timmins's somnambulant singing and brother Michael's ragged bolts of guitar. As usual, nothing sounds rushed and everything progresses at its own pace--gradual. "I Did It All for You," the opening cut, begins with a slash of howling feedback, but even that's muted and reduced to barely a whisper. The sinister "Dragging Hooks" pairs Talk Talk-style atmospherics with grim lyrics about searching a river for a body, while the epic "Dark Hole Again" is about as close to angular funk as the Junkies get. Admittedly, the progress from previous records is minimal, and there's nothing on Open that's particularly shocking or new, but at the very least, Cowboy Junkies are consistent. --Matt Galloway