Keep Out of the Storm

The title of The Sheepdogs’ eighth album provides a pretty succinct summation of the Saskatoon band’s outlook on life, as their buoyant Southern boogie can instantly provide a sunlit sanctuary in the darkest of days. From its introductory lead-guitar lick, Keep Out of the Storm boasts the familiar, worked-in feel of an FM-radio staple: “Nobody but You” stakes the middle ground between the Allman Brothers’ Peachtree soul and Bad Company’s arena-rock crunch, while the jaunty twinned-guitar swing of “I Do” suggests fellow Canadian veterans Sloan on a Laurel Canyon retreat. Following the 2025 departure of long-time drummer Sam Corbett, The Sheepdogs recorded Keep Out of the Storm with a rotating cast of timekeepers that included members of Born Ruffians and July Talk. But despite the personnel shuffles behind the kit, Keep Out of the Storm stays locked in a feel-good groove, be it the Louisiana-flavoured funk of “Playing All Night Long”, the simmering brass-blasted blues of “Take a Look at Me Riding” or the surprisingly Floydian thrust of “The Owl”.