The Weakerthans - 'Reconstruction Site' (Burning Heart)
4/5
By: Thomas Hannan
Like running 'round a room trying to swat a fly and only ending up breaking your Mum's favourite vase, trying to put your finger on what it is about Canada's The Weakerthans is a thankless exercise, far more trouble than it was worth. Containing and relating your enthusiasm for this album are tasks you're going to find a chore also. What's certain is that this record needs to be heard - please, make sure that's something you do.
'Reconstruction Site' covers a lot of emotional ground whilst stating its case that (get this) there are still some great tunes that haven't been written yet after all. It gets deeply personal on the likes of 'The Reasons', an utterly beautiful love song, then cryptically political on the lyrically caustic 'One Great City' or infectious lead-single 'Our Retired Explorer (Dines With Michael Foucault In Paris, 1961)'. Although you'd be shocked if a band featuring an ex-member of morally sound punk-rockers Propaghandi as their frontman (that'll be bassist John Samson) didn't have some kind of scathing social-commentary lurking not so conspicuously beneath their surface, it'll come as a surprise just how they've managed to get it across.
Sonically, it's probably closer to country than it is to punk, just about borrowing sounds and attitudes from both. Propaghandi fans, if not familiar with the genius of The Weakerthans, are in for a disclosure, but anyone stumbling across the band through following a family-tree is damned if they don't find this slightly enthralling. Such musical differentiation between 'Reconstruction Site' and its associated records also means the band are far less likely to be lumbered with a 'featuring ex members of...' tag, because frankly, who'd ever guess? The less said about it, the better - so we'll shut up.
If ever a record could easily stand up to an in-depth analysis on its own merits, it's this one. And as fun as it's been trying to dissect its punk-rock heart and bruise its fragile exterior, the damn thing still comes off without a scratch. All the signs and sounds are pointing to the discovery of one of the year's great indie records, the ghosts of Pavement and early R.E.M. all nodding in agreement. It's easy on the ears, but in possession of enough thought-provoking lyrical quirks, unpredictable song-structure and melodic-venturing to keep it away from being filed under 'easy listening'. Often, it's not so much easy as it is thoroughly sumptuous - what is it about perfectly harmonised vocals, as featured on the title track's chorus, that makes whatever's being said sound ten times more poignant?
It's customary to name some high-points, but at the risk of just having to relate the track-listing, we'll point out the lows instead... There, didn't take long, did it? Serious for a second, admittedly, the latter half of the album does take longer to reveal its charms than the more instant opening third, but if anything, this just gives 'Reconstruction Site' some longevity that other simply song-based albums can lack. Always endearing, it does at times stumble on genius - an opening '(Manifest)', a wistful 'Psalm for the Elks Lodge Last Call', or the slide-guitar jamboree of 'A New Name for Everything'.
With every slight variation on the trick they throw our way, labelling The Weakerthans becomes increasingly difficult. We'll abandon 'punk', 'alt.country' and 'indie' for a word which defines their sound much more succinctly. Simply - fantastic.
Artists in this article: The Weakerthans
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