Big Wreck

The mid-’90s was a golden age for Canadian alternative rock (a.k.a. CanRock), and although Big Wreck technically formed at Boston’s Berklee College of Music in 1994, singer/guitarist Ian Thornley’s Toronto roots put them at the forefront of this new Canuck wave. The group’s 1997 debut, In Loving Memory Of…, introduced a band that were tough enough to hold their own against the post-grunge fray, but possessed a deep-seated reverence for bluesy classic-rock fundamentals. (To wit, the album’s soaring centerpiece, “That Song,” was an instant radio anthem about listening to your favorite radio anthem.) Big Wreck’s CanRock reign lasted for just one more album (2001’s The Pleasure and the Greed) before Thornley set out for a solo career. However, with 2012’s reunion effort Albatross, Big Wreck embarked on a prolific second act and, despite the untimely 2019 passing of founding guitarist Brian Doherty, the band are still going strong, dropping the Lenny Kravitz-meets-Soundgarden groover “Middle of Nowhere” in 2021 with guest vocals from Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger.