The Weakerthans are an indie rock band from Canada, formed by John K. Samson, formerly of Propaghandi. With him are John P. Sutton (Bass) and Jason Tait (Drums); Fallow is their first release. It's unlike anything Samson ever did with Propaghandi, where the former was known for being loud and irreverent, Fallow is a mostly introspective rock/folk album.
Samson, incidentally, wrote every song on the album, and his lyrics are quite strong. As an aside, the first I ever heard of this band was from another brilliant lyricist, Ron Hawkins. In the song "Casual Overdose" on the album Sordid Fiction, he writes "It's the closeness that separates/An awkwardly eloquent toast/From a casual overdose/Of punk rock and Chinatown hum/'Til we both are overcome/So we join our trembling hands/And clap for the Weakerthans". Like Hawkins, Samson's lyrics are poetic, and humble enough that you can tell he doesn't take himself too seriously. By way of an example, the song "Confessions Of A Futon-Revolutionist" contains the lyrics "Let's lay our bad day down here, dear and make-believe we're strong, or hum some protest song. Like maybe 'We Shall Overcome Someday.'"
In the negative, the music is not entirely original. It's pretty standard rock/folk fare, which is great if you're like me and like that kind of thing, but if you're not and you don't, this album might get old pretty fast. Also in the negative is the song "Leash". I'm not really quite sure what he was going for with that discordant guitar noise, but maybe he should leave that to Sonic Youth or somebody who knows what to do with it.
Despite the weak music and odd experiments, Fallow coasts to victory on the back of Samson's lyrics. I really like this album, and I'm proud to be from the same country as these guys.
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