Constantines - Tournament of Hearts
Years ago, well okay more like two years ago, I wrote about the ‘working-class groan’ emanating from the last Constantines record, Shine A Light. This classification met with befuddled reactions and even the threat to end my privilege of music reviewing. Nonetheless, in the two years since, I’ve heard the Constantines described as ‘working-class’ numerous times in articles ranging from Pitchfork to the New York Times.
The Constantines’ new effort, Tournament of Hearts, does nothing to change this widespread perception. Though it’s not like one would visualize the Canadian band laboring in overalls a la Dexy’s Midnight Runners, the Springsteen-esque quality of Bryan Webb’s voice and song titles like “Working Full-Time” certainly contribute to the proletarian nature of the band, even if the lyrics themselves are neither revolutionary nor Marxist. Tournament is in fact a mere intensification of the Constantines’ sound, disguising its sometimes-overpowering intensity under sleek textures in “Hotline Operator” and building up gritty tension in “Love in Fear”, two of the standout tracks. If we were to overthrow the bourgeoisie tomorrow, there’d be no better soundtrack for our brash and aggressive movement than this fine album. The nice part is you can listen to it even if you don’t happen to be participating in a coup d’etat.