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Album Details

• Artist: John Kastner
• Album: Have You Seen Lucky?
• Label: Cobraside
• Year of Release: 2006
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: dscanland on 2007-02-07

John Kastner, the name sounds familiar and yet you can't quite place it. Let me help you, remember the Canadian power-pop/punk outfit The Doughboys (seek out their album Crush for a treat)? Maybe you've heard of the somewhat supergroup All Systems Go? There you go, you are with us now. John Kastner has been in music just about his entire life and it's only now that we get treated to a solo project from this amazing musician. Have You Seen Lucky is one of those albums that you fall in love with immediately or push aside to discover at a later date. I fell in love. It's got the pop hooks that the Doughboys had, even if they are toned down slightly, they are still there. There are times when John totally kicks it too like on the wonderful "We've Got To Move It". He lays back on the opener, "Kick Back" and "It's All Too Familiar", which features, gulp, a piano intro(?). John is one of the best power-pop songwriters ever and really, this is such a treat to listen to. You might hear some Foo Fighters in tracks like "Trainwreck Magnetism". That's the level on which John plays.

Have You Seen Lucky features a somewhat all-star cast: Away (Michel Langevin) of Voivod, Jonathon Cummins (Bionic), Alex Lifeson (Rush), Thomas DArcy (Ladies and Gentlemen), Lee Ving (Fear), and Jim Cuddy (Blue Rodeo) all lend a hand.

If you have never heard of John Kastner I would recommend you check this out on iTunes and listen to the samples. I think it will be worth your while.

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