GETTING SNAPPY

     2007 saw Hokus Pick receive a Lifetime Acheivement Award from the Canadian Gospel Music Association.  Ten years prior to that, the band released what may well be the strongest album of their career.  SNAPPY contains the hit, horn-filled song 'I'm So Happy', a celebration of good things coming one's way: "Playing guitar in a band/Just got back from Disneyland/Driving a new 4X4/Ed McMahon is at my door."  It's good to see that over the years Hokus Pick didn't lose their quirkiness, even as their musicianship improved.  In this respect they could be compared to Barenaked Ladies.
     Russ Smith and the rest of the guys in Hokus Pick present a realistic view of Christianity on 'We are the People': "God never promised the skies would be blue/Smooth sailing all the way through/He never promised sun without rain/Joy without sorrow, peace without pain."  Love is a theme examined on SNAPPY.  The album opener, 'Faith, Hope and Love' states: "Love is patient, love is kind/It never withers, even in the grind."  The chorus of 'Our God' declares: "Our God loves us all/So let's all love our God."  Fans of the band's earlier, peppy material will enjoy 'Comfort Song' that exposes the fault of putting trust in anything but God: "I put my comfort in my looks/My face has grazed the front of magazines and books/I don't want to get beat up by a crook/I put my comfort in my looks/Give it up, let it go/Step out of your comfort zone/God is great, we are lame/Yeah (x6) really lame."
     I'm giving SNAPPY an 88%.  This is a fun, guitar driven album, conveying truths we all need to be reminded of.  SNAPPY was released on Freedom Records.