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
Website www.theweakerthans.org
Members
John K. Samson
Jason Tait
Stephen Carroll
Greg Smith
Former members
John P. Sutton

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

Contents

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 is a line from the 1992 film The Lover: "Go ahead, I'm weaker than you can possibly imagine."(as quoted in the liner notes of Fallow)[5] The band's name may 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 "The 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 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 was comprised of a single, unbroken camera shot of the band on a Winnipeg Transit city bus.[8]

Epitaph has also announced it will be re-releasing the Weakerthans' first two albums (Fallow and Left and Leaving) in Canada on November 6, 2007.[9]

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 the week ending December 13, 2007, "Civil Twilight" was also tied with Arcade Fire's "Black Mirror" as the longest-running #1 in that chart's history.

  • 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.
  • 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".

  • John P. Sutton (bass)

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

  • Outstanding Independent Album – Reconstruction Site – Western Canadian Music Awards (2004)[2]
  • Outstanding Songwriter – John K. Samson – Western Canadian Music Awards (2004)[2]

  1. ^ MySpace Band Member Description. MySpace (2006-08-30). Retrieved on 2006-09-31.
  2. ^ a b c d Weakerthans stick to their punk rock roots. The Brock Press (2005-03-30). Retrieved on 2007-02-07.
  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). Breaking New Sound. CBC Radio 3. Retrieved on 2007-09-25.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Weakerthans"
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