The Sadies

by Jason Ankeny
Led by brothers Dallas and Travis Good, the Toronto-based Sadies honed a distinctive sound, taking influence from traditional country, surf music, and garage rock. After earning notice and adding backing singer Neko Case, the group issued their debut LP, Precious Moments, in 1998. Tremendous Efforts followed in early 2001, teaming them with Breeders/PJ Harvey producer Steve Albini for the second time. A year later, Stories Often Told marked their first album without Albini, placing Blue Rodeo's Greg Keelor in his position. The Sadies produced themselves on 2004's Favourite Colours, with Keelor, Nick Luca, and Chris Shreenan-Dyck handling the engineering duties; Robyn Hitchcock made a guest appearance as vocalist and lyricist on one track. After gaining more notoriety while backing Neko Case on tour -- which resulted in a live album, The Tigers Have Spoken -- the Sadies recorded an album in collaboration with R&B legend Andre Williams, one with Mekons frontman Jon Langford, and then released a live album of their own, In Concert, Vol. 1, in 2006. Soon after, in September 2007, Yep Roc released the band's rousing seventh studio album, New Seasons.