The Weakerthans
Aug. 26th, 2010 12:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wordplayTHIS IS INCOMPLETE, BUT ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jumperkid RIGHTLY GOT TIRED OF WAITING, SO HERE IT IS IN ITS INCOMPLETE FORM FOR YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND EDIFICATION.
OK, so months ago my friendjumperkid asked for Weakerthans song recommendations and, well, y'all know how busy the last 4 months have been for me - I just never got it done. But I really want to, because I like pimping people in to them, and so here is a list, with brief commentary.
So, the thing about The Weakerthans is that it's really all about the lyrics and the lyricism. They are not a particularly musically inventive band; there's a lot of three-chord songs and the melodic and instrumentation backbone of their music is very accessible pop with punk and altcountry roots that occasionally show through. I'm not complaining here I want to be clear that they are not of the Canadian megagroup persuasion. They tend to record and tour as a group of four or five: a singer, a guitarist, a drummer, bass and keyboard support. But the words - jesus, the words.
And, really, that's all about John K Samson. My favorite interview ever with him is here, and, just, he's so smart, and kind of amazing. When's the last time you read your favorite pop star's take on native rights and the importance of a sense of location and groundedness in their work? I love him. (He's also pretty cute. Just saying.)
Part of why this post is hard is because I love ALL of their songs - all of them. Every time I sit down to make this post I pull up the iTunes playlist and just stare at it, because what can I leave off? OK, so they are big on including spoken word pieces on their records, and although I am quite fond of them, I can probably leave those off. But honestly, after that? I'm flummoxed. I've limited myself to 15; that's a very long record, but it could conceivably be one CD, right?
I've not included download links here, because this is a band I like to support financially. I'm not opposed to uploading things, not at all, but rather than blanket upload everything, I'd rather, like, pinpoint things. If you want something, please feel free to ask for it! But these are lovely songs, beautiful little bits of poetry and image and story, and they're worth 99c.
Fallow - their first full-length album, and the only one I don't really completely click with. It's not that it's not strong, it's more that I am just completely taken with the others. There are some amazing images on this record, though.
Confessions of a Futon Revolutionist -
Left and Leaving - for many, this is their strongest album; certainly, the title cut is their most well-known song. This is an album of lists - lists of objects or the notion of lists occurs with surprising frequency here. I'm still not sure if that's intentional or an artifact of the conventions and forms of songwriting or just a guy who's tapped a successful vein and milking it for everything he can.
Pamphleteer - I always think of this song as a follow-up to "Confessions of a Futon Revolutionist", the Casablanca version where their passions and causes pulled them so far apart that they had to separate to pursue their work. There is a line in here that will NEVER STOP KILLING ME, so much so that I don't even want to tell you what it is so you can discover it for yourself.
Left & Leaving - this is the song they could never play a show without. There's a lot in here, lyrically, that is just gorgeous. Some of it's clever, "Wait for the year to drown/ Spring forward, fall back down." And I'm still not entirely sure how to explain what waiting in 4/4 time is, but I can sort of feel it, because this song makes you feel it.
History of the Defeated - this song always hits me where I live because I KNOW this guy, he's one of my cousins, a kid who grew up unsure of himself and directionless and too working class for college.
My Favorite Chords - it's just sweet, sweet and sad, and John's voice is on display here, kind of soft and lovely. "You are a radio. You are an open door.
I am a faulty string of blue christmas lights. You swim through frequencies.
You let that stranger in, as I'm blinking off and on and off again." *flail*
Reconstruction Site - The people who don't think Left & Leaving is their best album usually prefer this one. There's some really nice structure to this record; the first, middle and last songs form a spine for the record by telling a continuous story and riffing off the same basic melody. In the form of three sonnets. Y'all, seriously. I love them so, so much.
The Reasons - An unabashed love song, with a great drawn out dog metaphor that always makes me smile. This is not a band that is 'happy' - occasionally they are joyful, but they always stay grounded in a kind of sorrow that makes joy a little bit sweeter. This is them at their very sweetest.
One Great City - so many of their songs are obviously set (at least in their minds) in Winnipeg; This is the the most well-known.
Plea from a Cat Named Virtute and Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure
jumperkid RIGHTLY GOT TIRED OF WAITING, SO HERE IT IS IN ITS INCOMPLETE FORM FOR YOUR KNOWLEDGE AND EDIFICATION.OK, so months ago my friend
jumperkid asked for Weakerthans song recommendations and, well, y'all know how busy the last 4 months have been for me - I just never got it done. But I really want to, because I like pimping people in to them, and so here is a list, with brief commentary.So, the thing about The Weakerthans is that it's really all about the lyrics and the lyricism. They are not a particularly musically inventive band; there's a lot of three-chord songs and the melodic and instrumentation backbone of their music is very accessible pop with punk and altcountry roots that occasionally show through. I'm not complaining here I want to be clear that they are not of the Canadian megagroup persuasion. They tend to record and tour as a group of four or five: a singer, a guitarist, a drummer, bass and keyboard support. But the words - jesus, the words.
And, really, that's all about John K Samson. My favorite interview ever with him is here, and, just, he's so smart, and kind of amazing. When's the last time you read your favorite pop star's take on native rights and the importance of a sense of location and groundedness in their work? I love him. (He's also pretty cute. Just saying.)
Part of why this post is hard is because I love ALL of their songs - all of them. Every time I sit down to make this post I pull up the iTunes playlist and just stare at it, because what can I leave off? OK, so they are big on including spoken word pieces on their records, and although I am quite fond of them, I can probably leave those off. But honestly, after that? I'm flummoxed. I've limited myself to 15; that's a very long record, but it could conceivably be one CD, right?
I've not included download links here, because this is a band I like to support financially. I'm not opposed to uploading things, not at all, but rather than blanket upload everything, I'd rather, like, pinpoint things. If you want something, please feel free to ask for it! But these are lovely songs, beautiful little bits of poetry and image and story, and they're worth 99c.
Fallow - their first full-length album, and the only one I don't really completely click with. It's not that it's not strong, it's more that I am just completely taken with the others. There are some amazing images on this record, though.
Confessions of a Futon Revolutionist -
Left and Leaving - for many, this is their strongest album; certainly, the title cut is their most well-known song. This is an album of lists - lists of objects or the notion of lists occurs with surprising frequency here. I'm still not sure if that's intentional or an artifact of the conventions and forms of songwriting or just a guy who's tapped a successful vein and milking it for everything he can.
Pamphleteer - I always think of this song as a follow-up to "Confessions of a Futon Revolutionist", the Casablanca version where their passions and causes pulled them so far apart that they had to separate to pursue their work. There is a line in here that will NEVER STOP KILLING ME, so much so that I don't even want to tell you what it is so you can discover it for yourself.
Left & Leaving - this is the song they could never play a show without. There's a lot in here, lyrically, that is just gorgeous. Some of it's clever, "Wait for the year to drown/ Spring forward, fall back down." And I'm still not entirely sure how to explain what waiting in 4/4 time is, but I can sort of feel it, because this song makes you feel it.
History of the Defeated - this song always hits me where I live because I KNOW this guy, he's one of my cousins, a kid who grew up unsure of himself and directionless and too working class for college.
My Favorite Chords - it's just sweet, sweet and sad, and John's voice is on display here, kind of soft and lovely. "You are a radio. You are an open door.
I am a faulty string of blue christmas lights. You swim through frequencies.
You let that stranger in, as I'm blinking off and on and off again." *flail*
Reconstruction Site - The people who don't think Left & Leaving is their best album usually prefer this one. There's some really nice structure to this record; the first, middle and last songs form a spine for the record by telling a continuous story and riffing off the same basic melody. In the form of three sonnets. Y'all, seriously. I love them so, so much.
The Reasons - An unabashed love song, with a great drawn out dog metaphor that always makes me smile. This is not a band that is 'happy' - occasionally they are joyful, but they always stay grounded in a kind of sorrow that makes joy a little bit sweeter. This is them at their very sweetest.
One Great City - so many of their songs are obviously set (at least in their minds) in Winnipeg; This is the the most well-known.
Plea from a Cat Named Virtute and Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure