John K. perfect

With the end of the decade looming, like most other music bloggers I'm trying to cobble together some sort of decade-end list. (Not that the world needs one more list, mind you, but it's a fun exercise). I'm still far from being finished, but I know this: The Weakerthans are going to be prominent. Between Left and Leaving and Reconstruction Site they've produced two of the finest albums of the '00s, both of them amazing masterpieces full of brilliant lyrics and memorable melodies.

At the heart of it all, of course, is John K. Samson. I've rarely been one to hear poetry in my favourite artists' lyrics, but he's the one obvious exception -- from "I wait in 4/4 time" to "I'm weary with right-angles, abbreviated daylight, and waiting for a winter to be done" to "How I'd knead into your chest while you were sleeping / Shallow breathing made me purr", Samson has always had a way with words that's affected me deeply.

I can't say yet whether his new solo EP, City Route 85, has that same level of resonance with me. Not because it's of inferior quality, of course; after all, even at his worst (which, I guess, would be Reunion Tour, though it's still a fantastic album), Samson is incapable of producing an inessential album.

The problem, rather, is its length. At just three songs, it doesn't seem long enough. Samson has always excelled at writing masterful full-lengths, so to only get three tracks from him seems like a cruel joke.

Nonetheless, what's here is, naturally, outstanding. Samson has always excelled at writing songs that tell stories, and these three songs are no different. My favourite is the heartbreaking "Grace General", though both "Cruise Night" and "Heart of the Continent" are pretty wonderful in their own rights. I can't say whether they add up to make City Route 85 a must-have for anyone other than Weakerthans completists -- since, I guess, I'm kind of one of those myself -- but I can definitely say that it means that anyone who likes what John K. Samson has done in the past should most definitely pick this up.