The Town Pants “Weight of Words” (Maximum 2006)

Rousing Canadian folk and roots

Regardless of musical genre, Canada has a tradition of bands who can sing, and harmonise, superbly. Moxy Fruvous, Great Big Sea, Barenaked Ladies, to name but three, regardless of genre they can all sing, and The Town Pants (dreadful name) are the latest in the line. They’re closed in style to Great Big Sea, but they add a distinctive Irish-cum-Celtic flavour, without ever descending into cod-Oirishry. Often this sort of music is something one can imagine working really well live, but rather less so on album. Not here though, the songs are worthy of sitting and listening to, although such is the infectious power of the tunes and the beats that it may prove quite a difficult task to do so.

Largely self-penned, the songs are firmly rooted in the tradition, in instrumentation (tin whistle, fiddle, banjo, guitar), style (jigs, reels) and content (story ballads, social comment, history). Particularly notable are “Rum Runner”, a tale of a feisty and particularly emancipated woman who ensures she always has a man available when her booze smuggler is unavailable and “The Old Landlord”, whose Rachman-esque title character and his house are surely drawn from the band’s personal experience. A slightly jarring note is struck but the inclusion of the Irish rebel song “Boys Of The Old Brigade”, which may play well in Canada but is woefully inappropriate over here. But that’s really the only quibble here. “Weight of Words” is an entertaining romp with more depth than the norm and an excellent addition to Canada’s tradition.

Date review added:  Sunday, May 14, 2006
Reviewer:  Jeremy Searle
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  The Town Pants website