Rat a Tat Tat

Jason Collett rarely tires of exploring the limits of his 1970s songwriter fascination, and Rat A Tat Tat finds him evoking the rootsy, sun-dappled sounds of George Harrison, Bob Dylan, and Kris Kristofferson. By now a major player in Toronto’s indie scene, he ambles through these 11 tracks with help from a number of local musicians, including Robbie Lackritz (Feist’s former sound engineer) and longtime partners Carlin Nicholson and Michael O’Brien — who, after recording 2008’s Here’s to Being Here, began pursuing their own interests by launching the pop band Zeus. Rat A Tat Tat has its share of poppy moments, too, but Collett is more concerned with appropriating the sounds of yesteryear’s rock staples, from the classic rock slide guitars that fill “Lake Superior” to the elegiac “Long May You Love,” which could’ve been lifted from Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. There's also an eccentricity to the album, whose quirks and lighthearted appeal make it a logical sequel to Here's to Being Here. Few songs from either record match the bombast of his work with Broken Social Scene, perhaps, but Collett’s albums are better viewed as part of a whole, and Rat A Tat Tat strengthens the country-fried side of his solo personality.