A Wintery Wonder
Canadian indie rockers The Weakerthans have impressive credentials, rising from the Canadian punk scene to produce albums that put Canada firmly on the map and stole the title for provocative poetry from their American neighbours. 'Reunion Tour' is for the most part tender and rich guitar work that skirts the alt-country category with woozy vocal harmonies and shuffling percussion but pulls you out of your apathy with its lyrical imagery.
'Bigfoot!' is one of the most stunningly visual tracks, painting a vibrant image of "news howling to the timber wolves,""at dusk beneath a diabetic moon" over soft and melodic guitar chords, which seem to echo the intimate tone. Elsewhere the chaotic layering of instruments on tracks like, 'Reunion Tour' sees a wealth of brass, smart percussion and synth sighs form a passionate 2 minutes of busy beauty that overflows with every note. 'Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure' is enough to bring a lump to the throat of most cat owners; it's not that it's at all sad, just that the overwhelming intimacy expresses perfectly our relationships with our feline friends.
'Civil Twilight' is an epic opener with shimmering guitars that reverberate shy style picking up the quirks of an ordinary day and twisting them into a finely crafted tune, 'Relative Surplus Value' has a similar cutting rock edge to it with storming percussion and guitars echoing out. While these tunes catch your ear there's a more subtle edge to The Weakerthans displayed in the warm and fuzzy intricacies of numbers like, 'Hymn of the Medical Oddity'; satisfyingly tender but without gooey frills. 'Sun In An Empty Room' is another charming offbeat indie pop number with one of the smoothest tunes with a smooth and reflective tone.
There's a carefully orchestrated passion about 'Reunion Tour' which is the key to its appeal and as the Winter days draw in it's certainly one of the best albums to snuggle to and reflect on the outside world.