Big Pacific is yet another blues band from that musical hot bed Vancouver Island. In this case four veterans of the Western Canada music scene, Roly Sandoval on guitar and vocals, Nick Dokter, drums & vocals, Wayne Veillet, bass & vocals and John Hannah aka Johnny Blitz, keyboards & vocals. Hannah’s is the only name you might recognize, having toured with Heart and Bryan Adams. They all write & sing and the songs are credited to the band. The opening rocker and title song, and justifiably the first single, is an astounding anthem to inclusion and national pride, ‘from Tufino to Newfoundland’ – “Welcome to the Party” indeed. With Sandoval on slide and Hannah on organ, this one should be heard by everyone and check out the cover art. “Bad Girl” starts a sequence of nine uptempo blues rock songs all on the relationship wars that outdo one another for tunefulness and energy. “Rack ‘Em Up”, “Lovin’ Arms”, “California Girl” and “Blue Moon Blues” kept my feet tapping a little more but all nine are good. The sheer inventiveness of the playing will amaze, Hannah excels on both organ and piano and Sandoval’s guitar sound jumps out of the speakers. The engine room is spot on throughout. The album concludes with bonus songs with only Sandoval on acoustic guitars for two slow ones, presumably with him on vocals. The first version of this band, with Sandoval and Dokter, was documented on Big Pacific1. The addition of Veillet and Hannah shows how important chemistry can be to a band. The web site is www.bigpacificband.com.