After a couple of locally available (in Port Credit) albums Sean Pinchin’s talents were recognized by Steve Strongman’s producer Rob Szabo, resulting in 2013’s Rustbucket, 2016’s Monkey Brain, which garnered Pinchin a Blues JUNO nomination and now his new one, Bad Things. What Szabo saw in this by now Toronto resident was a talent for big guitar riffs and memorable songs, both very much on display here. The big guitars are featured on the opening “If You’re Gonna Leave Me” perfectly matching the confrontational nature of this breakup. A superb blues lick on slide opens the title song – don’t worry about bad things, it’ll work out in the end. Mary-Jane Luvite on drums and Szabo on bass drive this one along. Pinchin & Szabo write most of the songs but there are a couple of covers led by a smoking version of Skip James’ “Devil Got My Woman”. Starting out on acoustic slide, Pinchin adds electric slide to his impassioned vocal. Superb finger picking highlights his masterful solo acoustic version of Blind Willie Johnson’s “Nobody’s Fault but Mine”. The rhythm section returns for “Hands to Yourself”, a chugging warning to his girl to stop messing around. His spoken comment before the fade doesn’t auger well for future relationships. The connection to Strongman extends to Pinchin’s cover of “River” to conclude. Pinchin has made an art form of combining acoustic & electric guitars in his sound and combined with his strong vocals this one should also do very well for him. The just-announced CD release was held at Hugh’s Room Live on February 26^th. You should go to www.seanpinchin.ca though to check for more shows.