The Weakerthans - Reconstruction Site

Being a college student, I’m constantly exposed to the mindless and monotonous music that many of my peers blare out of car speakers and dorm room windows. Thankfully, the Weakerthans do not fall into that category, and I’m grateful for any tune that this band has ever laid their collective fingers on. It’s safe to say that the Weakerthans operate with a very punk-rock mindset, but their music is a far cry from singer/songwriter John K. Sampson’s former work, the left-winged Propagandhi. Despite already releasing two albums prior on Sub City Records, the Weakerthans have never really garnered that much attention outside of the underground community. Likewise, they seem to be a very respected band in that underground scene. Their newest, Reconstruction Site, is a melting pot of laid back political references and satire, and the songs draw you in deep enough to chase away any chances of boredom. Their sound, primarily folky, alt-country tinged pop-rock ("A New Name for Everything"), has been landscaped with steel guitars, keyboards, vibraphone and even a little trumpet ("(Manifest)") throughtout this album. Overall, the album shows the growth the Weakerthans have undergone since 2000's Left and Leaving. In fact, I'm pretty inclined to just label The Weakerthans "the Wilco of punk rock." With three albums behind them now, and this one possibly being the most brilliant yet, the Weakerthans future in the indie music scene is as bright as imaginable. With the release of Reconstruction Site, Epitaph Records proves that not only are they one of the strongest independent labels in the history of music, they’re also open to variety. [www.theweakerthans.org]