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- Summary: This is the third album for the Winnipeg, Canada-based group led by former Propagandhi member John K. Samson.
- Record Label: Epitaph
- Genre(s): Indie, Rock
- More Details and Credits »
Score distribution:
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Positive: 8 out of 10
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Mixed: 2 out of 10
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Negative: 0 out of 10
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As wonderfully crafted an album as Reconstruction Site is, some listeners will be put off by its perceived highbrow attitude; it's too scholarly for the masses, too pop-smart for the avant garde set.
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It's an outstanding piece of work -- literate, catchy, and emotional.
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Incorporating the best moments of the band's previous two releases, Reconstruction Site offers a clear blueprint for future efforts, built on Samson's instinctual mingling of liberal-arts smarts, poignant sketches of perceptive reflection, and a melodic infrastructure of pop and rock gestures.
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This would be an easy record to (dis)miss; aside from the intellectual reaching... it glides by fairly effortlessly on initial listenings. But textures -- Stephen Carroll's lap/pedal steel guitar, Sarah Harmer's cozy backing vocals that make the band sound like a more laid-back New Pornographers, Jason Tait's tight, emotional drumming and the warmth of vibes and glockenspiel -- reveal themselves long after the lyricism ceases to delight.
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John K. Samsons vocal and lyrical talent is the most immediate thing and, ultimately, what sets the band above the two-a-penny similar rock acts the world over.
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Musically, Reconstruction Site has more in common with literate indie types like Clem Snide or even the mature, clear-eyed work of Michael Penn.
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Throughout it's fourteen tracks, there's no doubting The Weakerthans are smart guys who keep up with literature and politics, but over the course of an entire album the band's ambitious literary posturing drowns in the bland songwriting and lack of captivating hooks.
Score distribution:
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Positive: 18 out of 18
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Mixed: 0 out of 18
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Negative: 0 out of 18
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JasonSOct 27, 2003
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NikkiNOct 2, 2003Listen to it. Learn it. Love it.
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PatWOct 27, 2006This band is the best thing Canada has ever done.
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MichaelPApr 12, 2004This album is a triumph. I'm glad it exists.
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MarcLJul 18, 2006Quite simply the perfect album. Catchy music, lyrical genius, no egotistical tirades
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ChrisH.Jun 4, 2008Don't know if you could find another album with such solid lyrics and music, except maybe Left and Leaving.
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R.Mar 9, 2008
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