The Weakerthans

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The Weakerthans
The Weakerthans performing in Winnipeg, 2007
The Weakerthans performing in Winnipeg, 2007
Background information
Origin Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Genre(s) Folk punk, indie rock
Years active 1997–present
Label(s) Epitaph, ANTI-, G7 Welcoming Committee
Associated acts Propagandhi, Broken Social Scene, The FemBots, Greg Graffin, Christine Fellows, Jim Bryson, Constantines, Sarah Harmer, Painted Thin
Website www.theweakerthans.org
Members
John K. Samson
Jason Tait
Stephen Carroll
Greg Smith
Former members
John P. Sutton

The Weakerthans are an award-winning[1] four-piece (and sometimes six-piece[2]) Canadian indie rock band that blends punk-inflected folk rock with literate, introspective lyrics.[3][4]

Contents

[edit] History

The band was formed in 1997 in Winnipeg, Manitoba by John K. Samson, after he left the punk band Propagandhi to start a publishing company. Samson joined forces with bassist John P. Sutton and drummer Jason Tait, and created The Weakerthans as a vehicle for a more melodic and introspective brand of songwriting than that of Propagandhi. One origin story for the band's name, as quoted in the liner notes of Fallow, is a line from the 1992 film The Lover: "Go ahead, I'm weaker than you can possibly imagine."[5] The band's name may also refer to a Ralph Chaplin quote from "Solidarity Forever": "What force on Earth can be weaker than the feeble strength of one?" The band alludes to this line in the song "Pamphleteer" from the album Left and Leaving.

The band's debut album, Fallow, was released in 1997 on G7 Welcoming Committee Records, and garnered positive reviews from Canadian music critics.[citation needed] Guitarist Stephen Carroll, formerly of Painted Thin, subsequently joined the band, and Left and Leaving was released in 2000.

The Weakerthans, with support from Jim Bryson, at a 2007 concert in Toronto
The Weakerthans, with support from Jim Bryson, at a 2007 concert in Toronto

In 2003, the band moved to Epitaph Records and released Reconstruction Site. The album was met with rave reviews[6] from Canadian and international critics for its ambitious combination of punk, rock, folk, country and sonnets. It also became the band's best-selling record to date, as well as its airplay breakthrough on Canadian radio. It was the second Weakerthans album to be produced by Ian Blurton.

Sutton, who played on all three of the band's first albums, left in August 2004 and was replaced by Greg Smith.

In 2005, Left and Leaving was named one of the ten best Canadian albums of all time in Chart magazine's reader poll.[7] In the same poll, Samson wrote the capsule review for another top ten finisher, The Lowest of the Low's Shakespeare My Butt, which he cited as a major influence on his own music.

Reunion Tour was released on September 25, 2007 in North America by Epitaph and ANTI-. The band released a video for "Civil Twilight", which consisted of a single, unbroken camera shot of the band on a Winnipeg Transit city bus.[8]

Epitaph also re-released the Weakerthans' first two albums, Fallow and Left and Leaving, in Canada on November 6, 2007.[9]

[edit] Chart performance

Reunion Tour debuted at #22 on the Nielsen SoundScan chart for Canada in its first week of release, and at #4 on the alternative/modern rock chart.

The Weakerthans became the first band in the history of CBC Radio 3's R3-30 charts to reach #1 with two different songs—its cover of Rheostatics' "Bad Time to Be Poor" reached #1 the week of June 21, 2007, and "Civil Twilight", the lead single from its album Reunion Tour, hit the top spot the week of November 15, 2007. As of December 2007, "Civil Twilight" is tied with Arcade Fire's "Black Mirror" as the longest-running #1 in that chart's history. "Civil Twilight" was also the #1 song in The R3-30's year-end Top 100 chart.

[edit] Side projects

  • Samson frequently collaborates with his wife, Christine Fellows.
  • Tait has recorded and performed with Broken Social Scene.
  • Tait, Samson, and Fellows have all collaborated with poet and filmmaker Clive Holden.
  • Carroll appeared on The Details' Draw a Distance. Draw a Border.
  • In 2006, all of the Weakerthans except Samson performed on Greg Graffin's second solo album, Cold as the Clay.
  • In 2000, the Winnipeg Free Press released a spoken word album by Catherine Hunter that included a bonus track featuring the Weakerthans doing backing instrumentation while Hunter read her poem "Rush Hour".

[edit] Members

[edit] Current members

[edit] Former members

  • John P. Sutton (bass)

[edit] Live show help

MacKinnon and Poirier also have their own band, The FemBots, and were previously associated with the bands Dig Circus and Hummer.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

[edit] Compilations

  • Return of the Read Menace (1999, G7 Welcoming Committee)
  • Hopelessly Devoted to You Vol. 3 (2000, Hopeless/Subcity Records)
    • "Watermark" (from Left and Leaving)
    • "Confessions of a Futon Revolutionist (Country Style)" (previously unreleased)
  • Hopelessly Devoted to You Vol. 4 (2002, Hopeless/Subcity Records)
    • "Past Due (Pre-Reconstruction Site acoustic version)" (previously unreleased)
    • "Aside" (from Left and Leaving)
  • Hopelessly Devoted to You Vol. 6 (2006, Hopeless/Subcity Records)
    • "Diagnosis" (from Fallow)
    • "Aside" (from Left and Leaving)
  • Operation: Punk Rock Freedom (2003, Hopeless/Subcity Records)
    • "Watermark" (from Left and Leaving)
    • "Confessions of a Futon Revolutionist" (from Fallow)
  • Chulksmack Soundtrack (2004, Epitaph Records)
    • "The Reasons" (from Reconstruction Site)
  • Punk-O-Rama Vol. 9 (2004, Epitaph Records)
    • "Plea from a Cat Named Virtute" (from Reconstruction Site)
  • Punk-O-Rama Vol. 10 (2005, Epitaph Records)
    • "The Reasons" (from Reconstruction Site)
  • Take Penacilin Now (2005, G7 Welcoming Committee Records)
    • "My Favourite Power Chords" (alternate version of Left and Leaving's "My Favourite Chords")
  • Wedding Crashers Soundtrack (2005, New Line Records)
    • "Aside" (from Left and Leaving)
  • Help: A Day in the Life (2006, Sony BMG)
    • "Utilities" (previously unreleased)
  • The Secret Sessions (2007, Zunior)

[edit] Related albums

[edit] Awards

[edit] Won

  • Outstanding Independent Album – Reconstruction Site – Western Canadian Music Awards (2004)[1]
  • Outstanding Songwriter – John K. Samson – Western Canadian Music Awards (2004)[1]

[edit] Nominations

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d Weakerthans stick to their punk rock roots. The Brock Press (2005-03-30). Retrieved on 2007-02-07.
  2. ^ MySpace Band Member Description. MySpace (2006-08-30). Retrieved on 2006-09-31.
  3. ^ Weakerthans gear up for new album. Sun Media (2007-04-26). Retrieved on 2007-04-28.
  4. ^ The Weakerthans Lead the Poetry Positive Revolution. The Cauldron (2003-10-27). Retrieved on 2007-02-07.
  5. ^ The Weakerthans: biography. AllMusicGuide. Retrieved on 2007-06-12.
  6. ^ Album Review: The Weakerthans, Reconstruction Site. Toronto Sun (2003-08-22). Retrieved on 2007-02-06.
  7. ^ "The Top 50 Canadian Albums and Songs of All Time", Chart, Issue 164, 2005-03. Retrieved on 2007-02-07. 
  8. ^ Spinella, Mike (17 October 2007). Video Premiere: The Weakerthans, "Civil Twilight" (Web). Spinner. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.
  9. ^ Van Evra, Jennifer (24 October 2007). Epitaph To Re-Release Weakerthans Classics (Web). CBC Radio 3. Retrieved on 2007-10-25.
  10. ^ Lawrence, Grant (2007-09-10). Bryson Rapidly Weakening (Web). CBC Radio 3. Retrieved on 2007-09-25.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Weakerthans
Members

John K. Samson • Jason Tait • Stephen Carroll • Greg Smith • Former member: John P. Sutton
Discography

Fallow (1997) • Left and Leaving (2000) • Watermark EP (2001) • Reconstruction Site (2003) • Reunion Tour (2007)