Never Work is by far Kom’s most impassioned and political lyrical statement to date. Augmented by Sharratt’s superb, understated singing and musicianship, it shows just how relevant protest music is, and how much fun it can be.
— Folk Radio UK
Ariel Sharratt & Mathias Kom
As with The Burning Hell, the crown jewel of Never Work is the richness of the lyrics. Kom’s wit and specific, strange images make his songs instantly memorable, and this latest batch is no different.
— Dominionated
Working hard or hardly working? The last few years have been a bit of both. In the spring of 2020 Ariel Sharratt & Mathias Kom (of Canadian garage-folk band The Burning Hell) released an album of contemporary labour songs called Never Work, and were just getting ready to head out on the road when… well, you know what happened next.
There was a sort of cosmic irony in a tour about the precarious nature of work being derailed by the complete impossibility of work, and the last few years have only brought the album’s themes into even sharper relief. Accenting the acoustic elements of old-school folk revivals with electronic interference, Never Work takes cues from labour activists and Situationist pranksters to explore the gig economy, side-hustles, tech feudalism, class war, unionized digital assistants, rebellious self-service checkout machines, and fully automated luxury communism. Simultaneously earnest and wry, the songs on Never Work are a protest playlist for our collective journey towards oblivion or the beach.
Smart, amusing, and affecting lyrics.
—Americana UK
The album is a wonderful, amusing little masterpiece…a real cornucopia full of daring and infectious indie-pop.
— LOOP
Shotgun Jimmie:
Jimmie Kilpatrick is a musician, educator, and interdisciplinary artist based in Brandon, Manitoba. He’s been touring regularly and releasing records on Toronto’s You’ve Changed Records since 2009. Kilpatrick cut his rock & roll teeth in the early 2000’s, as part of the seminal east coast indie outfit Shotgun and Jaybird.
He has appeared on recordings by John K. Samson, Christine Fellows, Joel Plaskett and By Divine Right. His 2011 release Transistor Sister was long-listed for Canada’s Polaris Music Prize.