This came out in 2001 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Man cannot live by riff-rock alone. So Montreal power trio Tricky Woo have a few new tricks up their sleeve for their ambitious fourth disc Les Sables Magiques.
Expanding far beyond the bottom-heavy Detroit metal of their earlier albums, the Tricksters partake of everything from Zeppelinesque blooz swagger to country twang to British boogie to bongo rock over the lengthy course of this 11-song magnum opus. And I do mean lengthy — these 11 songs clock in at nearly six minutes each on average, and boast the sort of spaced-out arrangements and noodly solos that suggest the boys just let the tape roll and jammed until they ran out of ideas. Not that I’m complaining. Jam-inspired or not, the Royal Trux swamp blues of 6 Cats & A Podium, the intricate Budgie boogie of Lil-lay Bank Blues and the Doorsy bossa nova raga of Beau Soleil are better than almost any ’70s rock I’ve heard since, well, the ’70s. Fire up the bong, refill the lava lamp, turn on the black light and dig it, man.
