Constantines

Man, fuck people who don’t like the Constantines. Aside from releasing a self-titled debut that probably would have launched careers if it had come ten years earlier, the owners of one of rock’s best live shows are still running songs together that each could stand as set closers. And now, with four solid-to-great albums under their belt, they can assemble the kind of live sets of which most bands can only dream, and, with transparent jealousy, curse the name of these blue collared heirs apparent to Can-rock glory. Such as it is.

The Constantines have, of necessity, jumped from the sadly defunct Three Gut (though staying loyal by then allowing it to take care of their Canadian releases) to Sub Pop and now finally to Toronto label Arts & Crafts—they of the Broken Social Scene’s unwashed commune. Early assessments of their new album, Kensington Heights, have been as unabashedly unfair as of their mature and accomplished Tournament of Hearts (2005). You can’t help but feel for them; if it weren’t for Subtle, they might have the down-on-our-luckness of the van-living lifestyle down colder than anyone else.

“Insectivorous,” from the still-potent Shine a Light (2003), constituted the set’s high point, the horn line replaced with an amplified, fuzzed out bass. But new songs like “Transcanada” and “Shower of Stones” also held up, even in the presence of the now-expected sublimity of “Hyacinth Blues,” “Young Offenders,” “Young Lions,” “Working Full-Time,” and the beautiful “Little Instruments.” Even though they passed on favorites “Shine a Light” and “Nighttime Anytime (It’s Alright),” the tight set—which was as cathartic as any Arcade Fire show with none of the hysterics or grand monovision—once again cast the band into a spectrum many others fail to consider, let alone achieve: consistency.

Not that the band didn’t momentarily stumble, literally: a keyboard balancing act by Will Kidman prompted an equipment plunge into the audience, prompting an embarrassing exchange about hockey between bassist Wehrle and a few of the thick-necked there to see openers/Canadian top 40 faves Attack in Black. Singer Bryan Webb reacted quickly with an apologetic solo performance, covering another underappreciated Toronto act, the Sadies.

Ottawa’s a lucky town to get the Constantines so often, and the night reinforced what I had already suspected: the only thing that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder to a Constantines show in terms of pure romantic swagger and raw, exposed rock is another Constantines show.