Hamilton-based rockers The Trews are a no-frills, hard-charging band fond of big windmilling power chords and even bigger hooks. Vocalist Colin MacDonald and his brother, guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, cofounded the group in the late ’90s. Their 2003 debut album, House of Ill Fame, produced by Big Sugar’s Gordie Johnson, spawned the massive rock radio hit “Not Ready To Go.” The mix of bluesy swagger and poised hard rock they conjured led to slots opening for The Rolling Stones, Robert Plant, and Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band. In 2007, the aggressive, riff-heavy single “Hold Me In Your Arms” became The Trews’ first crossover mainstream Top 40 hit, and in 2014, a self-titled album reached the upper reaches of the Canadian charts on the strength of songs such as “In the Morning,” a lovely jangle-folk duet with Serena Ryder. The Trews continued to refine their hard-rock sound with 2021’s Wanderer, led by the yearning “I Wanna Play.”