The Weakerthans
Reunion Tour
(Epitaph, 2007)

I’ve experienced some “firsts” with the Weakerthans, which gives them a permanent place in my musical heart. Dare I say they’ve even helped me mature musically? I think and talk a lot about aging gracefully when it comes to a band’s longevity, and the Weakerthans are a prime candidate for this discussion.

Attending a Weakerthans show back in 2002, it was perhaps the first time I was approached with the notion that I might be getting older. It was a CMJ showcase at CBGB’s and the Weakerthans followed Don Caballero—weird billing for sure. The few straggling Pittsburgher’s and math-rock geeks that made up the Don Caballero crowd left, and the Weakerthans crowd entered, which happened to be a slew of young girls, much younger than me, filling up the venue to capacity. The Weakerthans got their start and the crowd sang along, and my fellow Pittsburgh cohorts sort of looked at me like, “You like this band?” And, sure, I was also confused by the surroundings, but still held firm to the fact that there was more to this band with material that, to the casual listener, might come off like a wussy 13-year-old’s journal.

Falling into the band around 1999, even then I was slightly confused, although probably more intrigued than confused, by this infectious indie pop/rock Winnipeg band being on Sub City Records, a punk label. On the label due to the scathing, anarchistic punk past of frontman John K. Samson, who started out in Propagandhi (and eventually quit to start up his own publishing company), the Weakerthans were mostly notable for Samson’s nasally, literate, introspective prose. I guess I wasn’t sure what kind of fans they had going on. In one way the Weakerthans fans at that show made sense, since it’s teenagers that create and consume punk music, and would thus be the ones running into this band on Sub City, or now Epitaph, and subsequently turning up to their shows. Then again, the Weakerthans aren’t really punk (although some of their lyrics can be) and have grown up and moved on to other things, like adults are supposed to.

It’s the time old tale: old fans of punk rock march on into adulthood, and thus start to mutate their ideals into something more reflective of their current responsibilities and lifestyle. But what does that even mean? Becoming a transparent, contradictive liberal straight out of a Phil Ochs song? I’m 30 now and I don’t know about that necessarily. With the Weakerthans, and many bands just like ‘em, it seems more important groundwork was being laid: for me it marked the first time I experienced a band bridge the gap between their punk past and their newer musical leanings, namely pop and folk (or at least it was the first time I was really forced to reckon with it), in a way that redefined what it meant to be an aging music fan. It was bound to have an awkward beginning, but now we see bands taking this approach all of the time. And it’s become one of the more honest and endearing things happening in the world of music today. (Says the 30-year-old!)

This brings us to Reunion Tour, the band’s first record in four years, and their fourth so far. Let’s be clear that this isn’t actually a reunion because the band never split, and yet it’s clearly a friendly elbow in the side acknowledging the band’s hiatus. While the Smoking-Popes-on-barbiturates sound remains, this time around the album as a whole is more cohesive and focused—less about being only Samson’s show. Maybe the band is a little less confused and more comfortable, as we all are, with the direction they’ve been headed all along: energetic, catchy rock songs telling stories of fictional characters everyone is familiar with to some degree. All of these songs are done with tasteful ingenuity that don’t necessarily challenge the listener as much as they make us appreciate their knack for a smooth transition and a good hook, while also incorporating more tape loops and keyboards, as experienced right from the start on the album opener “Civil Twilight.” The literary visuals are vivid, and this album can literally warm your insides even as the band reflects on the current state of the world, as in “Night Windows” with the lyrics, “De-pluralize our casualties / Drown the Generals out in static / We turn and watch our city sprawl / Send us signals in the glow of night windows.” Reunion Tour is a record for when you’re indoors and it’s dark at 5pm, as it’s coming from a Canadian band that resides in one of the coldest cities in the world. The record hints that the abrasive cold is coming on, which sucks, but you’ll get to wear sweaters, which doesn’t suck.

Take the stigma away from pop music for a second, and the Weakerthans can be easily defined as a band that creates really elegant, meaningful pop/rock songs. There are true rockers, like “Relative Surplus Value”, and there are sweet ballads like “Big Foot!” With Reunion Tour it all comes together for the Weakerthans, having the potential to make many of the band’s skeptics finally come on over to their side. And, at that realization, things come full circle: if this is the type of music younger folks are packing venues to listen to, I’m all for it… and… if this is the type of music that represents my generation grown up (gracefully), I’m all for that too. Mutual benefit. Win-win. So nice.

Listen: Reunion Tour  [at myspace.com]