As a band renowned for down-beat and depressing anthems, The Weakerthans do a little bit of reconstruction of their own on their newest release, "Reconstruction Site." Fortunately, the band is equipped for the task. From the remnants of the uber-morose masterpiece, "Left and Leaving," The Weakerthans have walked away from their trademark melancholy and found a comfortable home in upbeat hook-laden rock. "Reconstruction Site" drifts between indie rock, alt-country, and post-punk obscurity.
Although The Weakerthans have changed their sound from the previous two records, there are some defining constants that remain unchanged. One constant is John Samsons voice. Samson's frail vocals are still as timid as they were when he sang backup in the political punk band, Propagandhi. Another unchanged dynamic is Sampson's lyrical prowess. Samson's lyrics are much more poetic than the average poetic lyricist, with three songs on the new record being in the form of an Elizabethan sonnet. The way Samson seamlessly fuses an archaic poetic device into forward thinking music demonstrates his lyrical prowess. Samson's use of imagery surpasses the average lyricist by avoiding trite metaphoric abstractions, and instead provides simplistic images that draw the listeners sympathy.
The fifth song on the album, "plea from a cat named virtue," details the life of a lonesome cat who cannot understand why its owner gets caught up in the trivial aspects of life. Sampson sings from the perspective of the cat, "Why don't you ever want to play?/ I'm tired of this piece of string/ You sleep as much as I do now/ and you don't eat much of anything." Sampson then explains how the cat will help its owner throw a dinner party by killing as many birds as he can and fixing girlie drinks.
The song's conclusion comes after the cat cannot cheer up its owner, "All you ever want to do is drink and watch TV/ and frankly that thing really doesn't interest me."
Coming from a band like Propagandhi, Samson never strays too far from polemic concerns. The difference is that where Propagandhi creates each song as a leftist anthem, The Weakerthans bury their messages in the details of everyday life. In the opening song, "manifest," Samson softly laments, "Take depositions from a stranger's face/ Paint every insignificance a sign/ So tell me nothing matters, less is more." Taking a more subtle approach means that The Weakerthans avoid alienating those that are drawn to their well-crafted pop tunes.
Interestingly, the album also includes a love song, which is the first love song that Samson has ever written. Similarly to how Samson masks politics, "the reasons" does not carry a straight forward message, but instead celebrates Samson's love in simplistic terms. In the chorus, Samson croons, "I know you might roll your eyes at this/ but I'm so glad that you exist" in the same timid nasal voice that he uses to observe the world around him in so many other great songs that appear on this album.
As far as instrumentation, The Weakerthans play out many of their songs with their standard two guitar, bass and drums lineup, but occasionally branch out with a lap steel, Rhodes piano and even a trumpet. The band has evolved together to the point where they can take a song in any number of directions without it sounding forced or unnecessary.
As a whole, "Reconstruction Site" is a well-written album that stands beside the band's other two albums, "Left and Leaving," and "Fallow," to showcase an impressive discography. Fans of the other albums should be pleasantly surprised while new listeners will hopefully find solace in Samson's unique voice and interesting lyrics. The Weakerthans have once again released a strong album that is sure to fight its way to the top of the indie heavy-weights.
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