Upon opening Eamon McGrath’s latest album, I was greeted with handwritten instructions to “Play it Loud as Hell.” These instructions serve the album well. The songs are filled with loud, forceful guitars and percussion as McGrath’s stripped-down vocals give a raw feeling to the album.

The album opens with heavy, psychedelic reverb on “Canadian Shield” before McGrath’s raspy, Tom Waitsinspired vocals lead the song into a modern rock jam.

His first solo record since 2011’s Diaper Island, Calgary-native Chad VanGaalen’s Shrink Dust marks a definitive change in his sound.