HYLI Vol. LXIII - The Weakerthans and TELOS
Patrick sends Andy a seminal record from a Canadian indie-rock/kinda emo band and Andy sends Patrick some Danish metalcore from the year 2023.
Hello all. It is Patrick again. Reading Andy’s attempts at intros the last month or so since I’ve been back has been making my brain leak out of my ears so I am writing this again. Y’all watch television? (Andy: my intros are fine. your big return to form was “ya’ll watch television?” get over yourself) I have another 10 weeks of parental leave from my place of employment (believe it or not, HYLI does not provide me my salary) so I have been busting through some television. Succession is out of its mind this season. People will talk about the One Episode as being a big deal, but the entire season has been incredible. The latest Barry episode made me lose my goddamn mind. Bill Hader rocks. We started the remake of Fatal Attraction and, while I like him generally, it is tough to buy in to Joshua Jackson being a Michael Douglas-type. Lizzy Caplan is crushing it though. I like TV. If I had to rank mediums (I do not have to do this under any circumstances) (Andy: dont you? it’s a compulsion of yours), TV would be under movies and music but higher than pretty much any of the others. Books? Been a while, man. Podcasts? Be serious. TV is a perfectly fine B+ medium that I enjoy. But music is better (Andy: SPORTS?) (Patrick: sports isn’t a medium, it’s an activity, you idiot). Hope you have a good week and Hope You Like It.
The Weakerthans - Reunion Tour
Patrick: I’m not going to pretend that this record is a formative record for me like it is for many of my friends: it came out in 2007 and I don’t think I heard it until well into the pandemic. I came around to The Weakerthans way later than their contemporaries like Death Cab for Cutie, whose artwork I have a tattoo of despite not caring about the band for over a decade now, and even later than newer bands like Modern Baseball, who very clearly cribbed their whole vibe part and parcel from The Weakerthans. They seem to be a massive band for people with huge amounts of nostalgia attached to them but, unfortunately for me since I’m new to John K. Samson’s work outside of Propagandhi, I merely think of them as a Very Good Band and not like an All-Time Important Band or whatever.
I think part of this is why my favorite album by The Weakerthans is Reunion Tour and not Left and Leaving or Reconstruction Site, which seem to be much bigger records for the Samson Heads. However, Left and Leaving - which is great, no doubt - is a bit more raw of a record and Reconstruction Site is more of a huge songwriting record and not so much a complete picture to me (again, great record). Reunion Tour is the total package to me.
Where to begin. “Sun In An Empty Room.” Having looked at the lyrics, I don’t think I really think of this song’s meaning the way it was intended, but this song always conjures a certain memory for me which is very Important and it leads the song to hit me in the goddamn chest like a sledgehammer. Samson’s storytelling is so goddamn good and the instrumentation is a bit more 3D to me than some of their other stuff. I just love it. The opener, “Civil Twilight,” is another song similar to this for me. Just a huge full-band song that feels like more than some of the other stuff on earlier albums that seems more singer-songwriter-y.
I don’t love every song here. The more lyrically-driven singer-songwriter folky tunes, like “Elegy from Gump Worsley” (cmon) and “Bigfoot!,” do literally nothing for me (Andy: same). Weird tunes. Even Samson’s solo work isn’t really quite as stripped down the way those tunes are. It’s the strength of “Sun In An Empty Room” and “Civil Twilight,” along with tracks like “Tournament of Hearts” and “Night Windows” that make it clear to me why Samson is treated with such reverence in the indie-rock fandom community. This record rocks. This band rocks. Shit, I fully wish I had heard this 20 years ago when it came out but I am glad to be hearing now. Hope You Like It.
Andy: What is this? Why do I know half of these songs? Are you Inception-ing me? Incepting? Did you and Leo climb into my dreams and play this? I actually think we used “Sun in an Empty Room” on a music club playlist because I like…really know this song. Also “Civil Twilight” and “Tournament of Hearts”… why do I know these songs?
Sincere, well-written songs that hit the spot just right assuming you’re in the mood to sit wistfully in the student union searching for connection in a world that can feel fragmented and isolating to your 19 year-old self (Patrick: okay lol). I can’t quite relate because at 19 I was deep in the throes of Deathcore but I can absolutely see why people who vibe with stuff like that were vibing hard with it, especially in 2007.
Patrick texted me and told me I’d hate this and that he loves giving me things I hate because he likes making me miserable (Patrick: half truth). But… I didn’t really hate it? I enjoyed it a good amount (Patrick: nice, paving the way for more folk to come your way). I think a big part of it was the unknown familiarity with the album. I’m convinced I’ve listened to this at some point but I literally could not tell you where or when. I don’t love all of it. “Virtute Cat Explains Her Departure” and “Elegy from Gump Worsley” are trash (Patrick: half truth) but the overall album was good.
I Liked It Even Though I Maybe Probably Heard This Already I’m Not Sure.
TELOS - Delude
Andy: Guess what I know about TELOS? Literally nothing. I am going to be unable to write you four paragraphs on its importance like our boy Patrick does every week, because I know jack shit about them other than: 1) they’re from Denmark and 2) they slap.
I found them the other week through Heavy Blog Is Heavy (the premiere music blog for the last decade) and have been spinning them since. Dillinger Escape Plan-esque mathcore that flirts with black, grind, and sludge metal. Maybe sprinkle in a little Post-Metal as a garnish. The end result is a twisted mix of ugly styles that produce a truly oppressive sound.
Denmark really has been killing it in the metal space lately. MØL, Eyes, LLNN… the Danes are pissed and making great music as a result (Patrick: not to be a dork but hasn’t this, like, always been the case?). Telos is apparently acting as a Danish supergroup with members of LLNN, Eyes, Demersal, and others. Really super here for “I Accept / I Receive” which might be the best song of 2023 (Patrick: very good).
Anyway, this seemed to be something that Patrick would enjoy and I love him and just want him to be happy. Hope You Like It.
Patrick: Andy has now sent me two back-to-back 2023 releases with zero prompting or discussion whatsoever. What’s the deal, man? Are we doing a theme or not (Andy: we very rarely do a theme. I picked things I thought you’d like because I’m a good friend. Can you say the same)? Regardless, it seems like this year is a good year for metal, apparently. I would say it’s been a so-so year for indie rock, punk, and the more country-leaning stuff I enjoy, with a few standouts, though it has also been an awesome year for hardcore. I am glad to hear metal is also thriving. I don’t like Telos’ Delude more than last week’s album, but I do like it quite a bit.
This is such an Andy record. I feel so bad for my friend that it took until 2023 for this big of an Andy record to drop. He could have been rocking with this shit for years. This feels like the shit we listened to so much in the 2010s. What if Alexisonfire’s singer fronted a djenty black-metal band? If I know my friend Andy, he loves a vocalist that, while maybe not perfect, has some character to their voice and is a little bit of a weirdo freak (Andy: well said. Good job). There are so many good Andy-type “BLEGH” vocals on this where the vocalist is just having fun and making noises. The part right before the end of “I’ve Been Gone for So Long” exemplifies this really well. I laughed out loud when I heard it, what a goober (Andy: Beginning of “Throne” also. Good blegh).
There’s stuff that is actually legitimately good too, and not just funny good. “Never Me” has a bridge that recalls stuff like Loma Prieta and Birds in Row in the kinda skramz/kinda hardcore/kinda metal all mixed into one type of sound. “I Accept/I Receive” is the kind of “epic” and long-winded track that I feel like all metal freaks love, and it really worked for me, as well. While I didn’t really like it as much as Turbid North’s record, there’s nothing bad or unenjoyable here. Just a fun, solid and kind of goofy metal record (Andy: you keep using “goofy” and that is not a word I’d ever consider for this record. There are legit goofy metal bands so be careful with your wording) (Patrick: buzz off). I Liked It.