Sydney’s Weak Boys have crafted a fine collection of beer-soaked tunes that talk of regret and fear. Although the musicianship doesn’t carry much complexity, Weekdays/Weekends exposes some of the fear that is held inside many males growing up in Australia.
Weak Boys are a Sydney trio that have recently released Weekdays/Weekends through Strong Look Records. Right off the bat I can tell you that it’s a musically sound collection of simple yet spirited indie-rock songs that trawl through a long list of societal tropes including unfulfilled dreams and beer-soaked regret.
I guess the crux of what I can hear here is the age-old issue of aging – getting older and fucking hating it. The hangovers are worse, the prospects are getting slimmer and the beer gut is expanding. There isn’t much that hasn’t been said about this album already, most of it has been covered. The approach to this album is fairly stock standard and the issues addressed are wholly familiar but this is a fine album regardless. Before you disregard this record as another piece of inconsequential, Australian slacker-indie, have a thought as to what Weekdays/Weekends really tries to communicate.
Mention has been made of the humour littered throughout this album and to me it is actually one of the more heartbreaking elements of the music. Many issues are easily covered up under a thin veil of humour as if the issue at the core is just too scary to tackle head on – Weak Boys do a great job (consciously or unconsciously) to conveying that fear-charged humour through tongue in cheek lyrics. Growing up is scary, especially if you aren’t doing it well. When the laughter goes, so does the soul – so you grip that funny bone harder or else let go of all hope. The music of Weak Boys does not carry such emotional dread, but you get the sense that one more bad hangover could set off some serious problems.
I am not going to go as far as calling this album a masterpiece, it’s far from it. It’s good, but not amazing and the band probably knows this. The charm lies in the honesty and the upfront nature of the way the band acknowledge their own faults. They are down in the dumps and miserable, but they carry their baggage with strength and a smile, and that is something to admire and take away for yourself.
Weirdo Wasteland 