“[Drumheller] is in some regards a homage to the jazz past, but one that’s radically different from the customary conservative recreation…It’s a conversational music, far more about the playful ironic discussion of double-edged feelings than the niceties of harmonic variation. There’s a special vitality to this band…a force and humour that keeps it consistently above pastiche”.
-- Stuart Broomer, Musicworks

Few bands sound as smashed as Drumheller, five otherwise upstanding denizens of Toronto’s improv scene. Rob Clutton’s double bass, Doug Tielli’s trombone and Brodie West’s alto sax bob and weave with a gin-soaked sort of elegance, often serving as a splendid counterbalance with Eric Chenaux’s spindly guitar lines. Drummer Nick Fraser does the difficult but rewarding work of holding it all together. The result may be the most boisterous of Rat-Drifting’s releases. High-spirited, deftly played and rich with surprises, the songs on Wives owe as much to the musical traditions of Bourbon Street as they do to more recent strains of avant-jazz. That means there’s big fun to be had.
-- Jason Anderson, Eye Weekly