The long standing Canadian tradition of front-men breaking away from their band-mates to scratch that solo itch now includes Jay Malinowski and his solo debut Bright Lights and Bruises. The material included here is considerably more subdued, but wouldnotsoundout of place on a Bedouin Soundclash album. The problem here is that the album is going to draw numerous comparisons to City and Colour’s material, due to the sparsely produced nature of the records. “Life is a Gun” and “There’s a Light” are the gems of the disc, but sadly this album doesn’t have the same warmth and charm.