The Weakerthans – Reunion Tour
The Weakerthans are the Canadian Teenage Fanclub. Just listen to ‘Tournament of Hearts’ and ‘Civil Twilight’ from their fourth album ‘Reunion Tour’ and you’ll be struck by beautiful harmonies and crunching, metronomic guitars the Fanclub would be proud of. This record has so much variety but still manages to work as a coherent album and that is a big step up from their previous work.
‘Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure’ – what a song title! – reminds of Maximo Park while a number veer closer to the alt-country of the Decemberists. Despite the obvious comparisons this brings, The Weakerthans are as exciting and original as any band out there. It should bring Winnipeg’s boys to a level – in the UK – of the very best lyric bands. They are at their most perfect on ‘Sun in an Empty Room’: “Hands that we nearly hold with pennies for the GST, The shoulders we lean our shoulders into on the subway, mutter an apology, The shins that we kick beneath the table, that reflexive cry, The faces we meet one awkward beat too long and terrified… Know the things we need to say (sun in an empty room), And said already anyways (sun in an empty room)”
The Weakerthans – like many a band – sum up the drudgery of living in a dead town, only they do it a whole lot better. As a Winnipeg girl says “this record is so true. In winnipeg there’s always someone stalled in a turning lane, the people in the dollarstore always get so fed up when you pay for 10$ worth of stuff in loonies, and the Jets actually did suck, but they were still awesome.” Like the Hold Steady the Weakerthans can make the most mundane subjects in to the biggest, euphoric tunes. Canada has just exported something special…again.