Album Review of
Window On The World

Written by Duane Verh
December 30, 2015 - 12:00am EST
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Ontario guitarslinger John McKinley pairs his abundant fretboard dazzle with his and his son, bassist Darius’, equally agile songwriting skills.  From the sophisticated verbal antics of  “Once A Ponce A Time”- reminiscent of Jack Bruce’s and Pete Brown’s Cream-era concoctions- to the menace generated by the narrator of “Welfare Mama” to the sly, offhand irony of “Life’s A Bitch”, this set delivers song style above and beyond typical power trio fare. Instrumentally, McKinley matches lightning licks with the sort of sonic liberties Jeff Beck’s so fond of.  Standing out in this category are “Dirty Nails”, “Stratitude” and the predominantly acoustic closer, “Ontarian Song”.