THE WEAKERTHANS - Reunion Tour

Epitaph

Some bands will never learn, so it's up to the likes of me to put it right. I'd never heard of this band before, so I saw the title and thought "how come an unknown band are having a reunion tour?" and assumed it was a live album. Now, as you know dear reader, live albums are never the most popular of things compared with studio albums, so it's my positive delight to report that THIS IS NOT A LIVE ALBUM!!!

Not only that, but it's an absolutely outstanding studio album.

The band are a quartet from Canada, the tracks were recorded in 14 days in April this year and 4 days in May this year. They are a "song" band. They are also brilliant at writing, arranging and playing. What makes them even better, although hardly any use for this review, is that they don't sound like anyone else I know. I suppose the nearest comparison you could make is a Canadian answer to Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, only more emotional, more romantic, more adventurous, still able to "rock" and much more wide-ranging. The opener of the album is a sizzler called "Civil Twilight" which is a stunning song built around a cyclical shimmering guitar riff as the band erupts in and this stirrin, strident slice of pure Petty bursts from the speakers in an absolutely glorious salvo of strong, heartfelt vocals, great harmonies, stirring guitars,solid rhythms and a song that is absolutely immediate but something that you'll want to play every day for the next year at least - just one top notch gem of a song. "Hymn Of The Medical Oddity" slows the pace but features one of those "deliberate" drum rhythms that Petty uses, while the vocal is more yearning, the instrumentation sparser, the song more sedate, but no less infectious as it bathes in its glories as guitar and keys wind around rhe rhythms creating this slowly swirling river of sound as the vocals continue to sial its waters ona heartfelt ripple of warmth.

"Relative Surplus Value" shakes you out of your hypnotic state with a fierce Americana rocker which really takes off and flies as the band provide a punishing sea of rhythms around which deliciously grungy guitar riffs and searing leads take the lead and give the song this massive sounding depth as the lead vocals and expansive harmonies deliver the song to perfection, sort of Petty-meets-Nirvana and just sensational. "Tournament Of Hearts" could almost be some lost Tom Petty gem - an absolute belter of a song, this is a mix of commercial, solid, intelligent, rocky and strident, all of which you put together the way this band puts it together and you have a worldbeating song that you'll have swirling around your head for hours after, the consumate mix of commercial, repeat playable and lifetime enjoyment, a song that you'll simly never tire of hearing, something to which you can leap around the room or just sit there in wide-eyed awe of its genius. The wondrously titled "Virtute The Cat Explains Her Departure" is a stripped down ballad with echoey decelerated Jonathan Richman styled drums and lone nasally vocals, before the band surge in to provide the rich and strong backing as guitars ring out, shimmer and shine, the song languidly flowing to keep you inexorably hooked from start to finish as the lyrics are simply superb, the tale told just stunning and the whole thing a 100% certified sea of absolute brilliance, a sort of Petty-Young hybrid that just lifts off in a glorious guitar-fuelled manner and takes you to places you'd long forgotten existed.

Forgive my editing here, but I'd be on for ages - suffice to say that there are a further 6 tracks on the album, all of which are total success, varied and cohesive, in keeping with what the album's all about and every bit as strong and essential listening as the rest of the album has been up to now. Sometimes, from the most unexpected sources, you find gems - this one is an 18 karat diamond of an album - and the best bit is - you can afford to have one!!

Andy Garibaldi (Dead Earnest)