I’ve been listening to a great album the last few days: Ian Thornley’s Tiny Pictures. I “discovered” Ian Thornley while searching for bands who regularly used twelve-string bass guitars on their records. Thornley’s former band Big Wreck came up. Needless to say, I was in love – I still listen to The Pleasure and the Greed every couple of weeks. Big Wreck broke up after two albums (just to spite me, I suppose) and Thornley went into hiding until Thornley’s debut Come Again was released: a straight-ahead Canadian rock album with some of the most cutting guitar sounds I’d heard in a while.
In typical five-year fashion, Thornley disappeared again, making the wait for a new album a form of torture for fans. Tiny Pictures came out in February. As someone who loved the Big Wreck sound, I was pleasantly surprised to find him return to his folksy/bluegrass (not country) and eclectic use of dobros, mandolins, sweeping vocals, and “wall of sound” guitars that graced those albums. This album isn’t as dark and has the slight imprint of his record label’s influence (started by Nickleback’s Chad Kroeger). Kroeger’s willingness to keep Thornley on his label almost makes Nickleback’s existence something I’m willing to tolerate for the greater good. 
Here’s the video single for “Make Believe.”
You can hear audio clips of most of the album here.
Be advised: Ian doesn’t exactly love Jesus, if you know what I mean. Big Wreck and Thornley albums aren’t the cleanest in the world.
