The Weakerthans

Canadian punk rockers The Weakerthans’ fourth studio album, Reunion Tour, is chockfull of studied references ranging from Karl Marx to botched circumcisions, dead hockey goaltenders to women’s curling. The Weakerthans, whose mainstream success amounts to a track listing on Wedding Crashers‘ soundtrack, are surprisingly underappreciated considering the whimsically wry writing of frontman John K. Samson. At the surface, the album sounds like any other indie rock record, aligning itself with Death Cab for Cutie on tracks like “Civil Twilight” and “Relative Surplus Value.” But in a surprising turn, the album explores deeper emotions than any of the band’s previous works; in particular, the sincere “Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure,” the humble “Night Windows,” and the album’s pice de resistance, “Sun in an Empty Room.” The mixture of delightful musings and bruised recitation make the album an enjoyable repeat listen.