I was slightly weary when this album crossed my desk. Not because I hadn’t heard of CanCan, but because they we’re described as “gritty punk rock”. With all due respect to those bands, “gritty” more often than not, means “sh*tty”. It means a totally too raw, and under polished album by a bad band. At least that’s what I thought until I heard Monsters & Healers. There’s an exception to every rule. And CanCan are the exception to “punk bands that are described as ‘gritty’, suck” rule. I was pleasantly surprised to find a well structured and not undercooked album.

The first thing that shocked me was that this was a three piece band. Singer/songwriter Patrick A, guitarist Mary Collins, and drummer Josh Lamar. That’s it. While you can clearly hear low end bass notes on the record, I don’t think these guys play with a traveling bassist so that would make the sound very interesting to say the least if you saw them live. The first track on the album is a minimalist rocker called “Giants”. It’s a song that’s lyrically about the shattering of religious preconceptions and their control over the human condition. “You build an altar, you find a priest, two tablets tell us what to do and feel and think.” I wouldn’t expect a punk band to embrace the 10 Commandments lest it sound really phony. The best thing about the song for me is the gritty (there’s that word again) riff that Mary Collins comes up with that replays through the song. That is what will hook a lot, if not most people, into the song.

“Victim” is another favorite song of mine because of the harmonizing vocals that are done in the chorus. Most of the songs on the album have an air of chaos to them, as well they should, it’s punk rock right? But this little hint of melodic-ness says the band isn’t just out to be as loud and obnoxious as possible. They care about their music and their craft a lot, and it shows in the music they create. Pretty good for a band that started out in singer/guitarist Mary Collins’ kitchen!!

Unfortunately, there are times when the band falls into the punk rock cliché’ of what a “gritty punk band” is supposed to sound like. “Uncharted”, despite some complex (for this album) guitar work from Mary Collins, vocally and in places musically is just an all out punk rock song. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but for most of the album, CanCan defy this box of punk rock that a lot of bands fall into and never get out of, but on certain tracks, they fall into it themselves. I guess not everyone is perfect.

The saving grace of the album for me is the guitar work. I’m a huge fan of all kinds of guitar riffs, sounds, and whatnot. Mary Collins comes up with some great yet simple riffs that punch you in the face and scream “You have to listen to me”. And despite falling into the punk rock pit once or twice on the album, CanCan do a great job on Monsters & Healers with being true to themselves more than being “true to punk rock”.