Amer diab plays the dakota tavern (249 Ossington) aug 22.
Amer Diab’s third album is a change from his usual low-key acoustic style — a straight-up roots-rock record, with the accent on the rock. Diab shapes that rock into various subgenres including power-pop with horns (“Angeline,” “Sunburn”), mellower country-rock tunes (the gorgeous “Sunday Drivers,” “Maybe Next Time”), and — at his best — flat-out barrelhouse rockers, full of squalling guitars and dripping with attitude (“The Devil Is a Trucker,” “Magdalena”). Subject matter varies from a dark, incisive portrait of an aging crew worker (“Nolan Gantry”) to a heart-rending breakup (“Orphan Keys,” a beauty of a vocal duet with country songbird Lori Yates) to the harsh realities of a dysfunctional relationship (“Worthless Thing”). There’s nothing exceptionally stunning here, but everything is captivating and well crafted. A solid effort.