The Weakerthans – Reunion Tour

I’ve been staring at this blank screen for almost twenty minutes now trying to figure out how to start this review and I haven’t come up with any ideas. I don’t have any deep connection to the band or any witty banter to lead you into it. Instead, it’s fairly simple: it’s The Weakerthans. One of the best indie rock bands around today, and a band that you really should know already. If not from their amazing 2003 releaseReconstruction Site then from their recent work with Greg Graffin’s solo record. If you don’t know them, then you’re missing out and you should check out some of their material; and what better way to start than with their newest album, Reunion Tour?

Because with four years in the making, Reunion Tour shows the listener just how talented The Weakerthans are. The eleven songs are a roller coaster ride of emotional indie rock. Melodic and catchy, energetic and soulful; with songs of beauty and sincerity, Reunion Tour floats through the speakers and carries the listener on a ride through stories of hope and wonder. Hymn Of The Medical Oddity is a lazy folk tune teeming with a feeling of isolation and confusion while Virtute The Cat Explains Her Departure sees the return of the famed feline as she explains her reasoning for running away on top of a shimmering beat and growing momentum.

Elegy For Gump Worsley pulls the album together as the sparse banjo lead track sees John K. Samson honoring the hockey goalie’s legacy as the album passes it’s halfway mark. It’s an incredibly unique song that, while never really exploding into the signature Weakerthans sound, works really well in it’s simplicity and steady tone and pulls the listener in completely. Plus, if anyone is missing the upbeat indie sound that the band is known for, they more then make up for it with Sun In An Empty Room and Night Windows. Those two songs, the main highlights from the album, are both inspired by Edward Hopper paintings and see the band going for a more pop inspired sound which is then counteracted by Bigfoot! which brings back the folk influence in full force.

Reunion Tour is a decisively solid release front to back. The few songs that pass by unnoticed are still able to outshine what most bands attempt to do. It’s soulful, captivating, memorable and tinged with a sense of wondered melancholy. If you don’t know The Weakerthans than you’re missing out, if you do, then you already know you’ll love this CD.