It is not easy to write a review about an album that makes your heart swell. Not easy at all. Nearly four days after buying The Weakerthans' newly released album, Reunion Tour, and logging in somewhere around 15 hours of listening time, I am still grappling to lower my oxytocin to a level reasonable enough to write a decently objective article. Unfortunately, it is a struggle.
Remember the days of yore when song lyrics spoke powerfully enough to us to end up in bold, pink and italicized font in our AIM profiles? Well, luckily I grew out of my teenage propensity to update my "info" every time I was captivated by a song, but lately I've been tempted by the idea.
Since the release of their first album, Fallow, in 1997, The Weakerthans have predicated their musical talents on their adroit lyrical craftsmanship. It appears they haven't lost their knack.
As in previous albums, lead singer and guitarist John Samson outputs introspective and clever pieces that span a variety of topics from myriad viewpoints. In "Bigfoot!," for example, Samson sings from the perspective of a Bigfoot enthusiast, while in "Hymn of the Medical Oddity," he takes on the role of a man inflicted with a rare medical condition. In addition (and much to my pleasant surprise), Samson once again takes on the perspective of a cat in "Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure" as he once did in "Plea From a Cat Named Virtute" (one of my all-time favorite Weakerthans songs) in their last album, Reconstruction Site.
Lyrically, The Weakerthans haven't abandoned a modicum of their uniqueness in exchange for an upgraded sound. Indeed, in most respects, The Weakerthans sound the same as they did in 1997. For music hipsters, Tour may present a letdown. The Weakerthans are still shamelessly sporting the same power chord progressions and nasal vocals they have been since their earliest releases. My 16-year-old self would likely take as kindly to Tour as my 20-year-old self does now. The Weakerthans really haven't changed.
Still, there is something that I find incredibly respectable about The Weakerthan's historic uniformity. The fact that they haven't altered their musical style since the 90s but are still producing highly intellectual poetry suggests The Weakerthans place a higher premium on the content of their lyrics than the stylishness of their sound.
I'm sure most people wouldn't put songs from Reunion Tour on their iTunes playlist during a house party. It's not exactly an album that can be described as "rockin'" or "bumpin'" (assuming people regularly describe albums as "rockin'" or "bumpin'"). In fact, most of its quality doesn't shine through until you really sit down and give it a good listen.
In addition, the instrumental tones on Tour can really invoke a different feeling than the lyrics might take on by themselves. In fact, I mistook "Hymn of the Medical Oddity" for a love ballad before really listening to it a second time through.
Oh, but the more I allow myself to really listen, alone in my living room, to the strange and beautiful stories that Samson tells, the more Tour captivates me, the more I get out of it and the more inspired I become.
If shamefulness is quoting lyrics in my AIM info then I suppose I'll have to improvise. "My chance to say something seemed so brief / but it wasn't." -- The Weakerthans
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