Weak Signal: Fine

“Your life is a just a song / It’s here and then it’s gone / What type of trip are you on?” sings Mike Bones on Barking at the Moon – the penultimate track on Weak Signal’s new album, Fine. It’s a line that reminds me of bands that swerve a key facet of the human emotion: humour. Avoiding humour presents a watered-down version of ‘the song’, ultimately deeming it irrelevant even with the little time one has to actually listen to one.

Weak Signal know the score, though, and having spent an existence not taking themselves too seriously, it’s this honesty that enhances their songs. The trio of singer/ guitarist Bones, bassist Sasha Vine and drummer Tran Huynh untangle life’s complexities with an easiness that has you poring over every word that slides off Bones’ tongue. Is the synopsis of life as easy as Weak Signal make it out to be? They make it sound plausible, at least.

Bones has a distinct talent for the truth, and with a salvo of ringing guitars, bass and drums, the Weak Signal experience is like having electricity running through the veins. On their fourth album and first for 12XU, Fine, the trio deliver a hybrid of dynamic downer rock that has the desired effect. Deceptive and direct, the kind of songs that make you feel like yourself, untethered from the daily grind and turning bleak days into bright ones.

Human Impact: Gone Dark

Weak Signal haven’t sounded so carefree, and it’s perhaps due to the realisation that this music game is a con for any band wanting to make a living from it. Even by moving to the hills in a bid to escape living in a house share with half a dozen others, there’s little point. Which is probably why the band continue to ply their trade in New York, and on Fine, they say, ‘Fuck it, let’s have some fun doing what we do’.

As the scrambled noise weeps from the speakers at the beginning of opening cut Out On A Wire, things unfurl with Huynh’s thumping rhythms and wonderful choruses and harmonies between Bones and Vine. The former, deadpanning into the microphone, “I don’t know what I’m doing / If I did I’d drop dead”. The hooks are in.

And there’s plenty more of that. With a line like, “It don’t matter what shape I’m in / I’ve got multitudes within”, Bones leads the charge on the lo-fi rumble of Wannabe. Glorifying life’s vices, not limited drinking wine, breathing opium and watching the sunset sinking into the sea, the only problem is that winter is around the corner.

Then there’s the muted chug of Disappearing. Baring a slight resemblance to the themes on Out On A Wire, we are met with a protagonist growing older, slowly burning into the New York patchwork (“Yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m disappearing”). It’s reality, but it doesn’t stop Bones from being pissed off about it on Rich Junkie. A piss taking snapshot of the chosen few who revel in all the biggest and loudest things money can buy. Narcotics, firearms, manors, you name it, it’s all here… with the permission from their God.

The Hard Quartet: The Hard Quartet

Meanwhile, Chill is the kind of song that would have been an alt-rock anthem back in the college radio days. Delivered with grizzled charm, Bones kicks against the status quote, enjoying the muted pleasure that’s so hard to come by these days (“The world is shadow of the world/ Everything is cool,  everything is chill”). It leads into Weak Signal’s tender moments. In the past, while they have given us a bit of sunroof sway (It’s Not Enough) and even some lighters-in-the-air (I’ll Stay), on Baby (one of four songs featuring Cass McCombs on guitar), Bones gives us a mixture of both with an electric lullaby.

On the closing lament, A Little Hum, it maintains Weak Signal’s earthy qualities. “You’re always here / Even when you’re not here” sings Bones, seeing life through the lens of both the past and present. An acceptance that things just shake out in ways none of us will ever know, and no amount worrying about it will change the fact.

There are echoes of Lou Reed in Bones’ musings. Like listening to alternative versions of Walk on the Wild Side. Except it isn’t. Bones’ songcraft possesses a new edge. A dark humour brought about by a mental dexterity that is as quick as a flashing blade, and expertly guided by Vine and Huynh, it makes Weak Signal a celebration for the lifer.

While they are destined to broaden listenership on the back of Fine, it’s still one that won’t be as big as it should be. Not that Weak Signal care one iota. If they did, then they wouldn’t be the band they are, which is essentially the reason why those who love them do.

Fine is out now via 12XU. Purchase from Bandcamp.