10/11/09- Decca Records


There always seems to be something to smile about when thinking of the Canadians; the French giggle at their funny accent, the Brits laugh at their American pronunciation. The Americans themselves even try to get in on the act by laughing at the ludicrous idea of Canada still having a health service (we never said these jokes made any sense). Then there’s the pop music, in which we have Bryan Adams – a man who, with one song, single-handedly and needlessly boosted Kevin Costner’s career tenfold – and Alanis Morrissette – a lass who probably, fourteen years later, still doesn’t understand the concept of irony. It would almost seem too easy to poke fun at a country that considers fist fighting part of their national sport. But, of course, it is too easy and so that’s why we continue to poke fun, eh?

When you first spin We Are The Same, you may feel a strange pang of nostalgia brew up. Not to worry though; it’s perfectly normal and makes you feel contently fuzzy inside – until you realise it’s probably because you’ve heard this a million times before.

Fun and unchallenging, We Are The Same achieves exactly what it says on the tin. From the pop-induced 'Morning Moon and Honey, Please', The Tragically Hip push you into a slushy pool of pop rock before both gusts of 'The Last Recluse' and 'Coffee Girl' throw you around in a daze. It’s then off to the booming 'Now The Struggle Has A Name' and 'The Depression Suite' – an epic slow-burner that eventually attempts to fling a thousand shivers down your spine as their grand chorus envelopes.

We then have the counteractive 'The Exact Feeling', followed by the loving 'Queen Of The Furrows', until landing upon the swift, express train of 'Speed River'. Towards the end, we get the first single off the album; 'Love Is A First' – a mechanised factory of a track that builds up nicely to a satisfying peak.

Seeming to take from a whole bunch of influences – the grandiose of Counting Crows, the sugary sweetness of Lightning Seeds, the straight poignancy of Feeder – The Tragically Hip feed from a mix bag of pop and operatic rock that works well from start to finish, but quickly repeats until it becomes something of a parody of itself. One thing that lifts this quintet from Canadia though is Gordon Downie’s fantastic voice; with the ability to go from soft to hard or fun to raucous in a split second, Downie generates enough intrigue for you to continue listening.

In spite of this, Downie’s pipes are not enough to save the record. With the amount of years they’ve been doing this (they came together in the 80s), you would think that The Tragically Hip could distance themselves from the rest of the pack and so give rise to the idea that – with an album title like We Are The Same – maybe Alanis is alone and Canadians get irony after all.

Posted In Album Reviews, Nov 10 2009. Words - Rich