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Tough Age
Which Way Am I?
Mint - 2020
Michael Panontin
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"A band that stands still might as well not exist."
Jarrett Samson's thoughts are words to live by. And on their fourth long-player, Which Way Am I?, Tough Age most certainly bear this out as they continue their slow and steady evolution from purveyors of punchy punk-lite to a subtler - and infinitely more interesting - brand of guitar rock.
Tough Age, for those not keeping track, are guitarist Samson along with Penny Clark on bass and Jesse Locke behind the drum kit. The group have been based in Toronto since 2015 when Clark and Samson relocated there from Vancouver, adding Locke to the fold shortly after their arrival. Since then, the three have issued a trio of compelling albums: that year's unapologetically indie I Get the Feeling Central, 2017's Shame, the band's homage to the effete endeavours of New Zealand's Flying Nun label, and this LP, which drops a bit of NYC art-punk into their still-raging Kiwi obsession.
On Which Way Am I?, Tough Age state their case right from the get-go with the kinetic 'Self-Confidence', a herky-jerky, rhythmic guitar-drum assault that draws equally from the Feelies' Crazy Rhythms and their more down-to-earth follow-up The Good Earth. In fact, the Feelies act as an exemplar of Tough Age's own recent trajectory, as Samson is keen to point out. "Tracing the move from the Ork single to, say, The Good Earth," he notes, "really showed me how you could soften and expand your music without changing the meaning or intent of your art."
That said, side two sort of marks the start of Tough Age 3.0. The group's usual two-minute-something approach is tossed out in favour of longer, more fleshed-out tracks, some even sporting added flute, organ or synthesizer. Of these, perhaps the best of the bunch is the jangly 'Repose', where Clark's fetching vocal glides atop Samson's taut guitarwork. The record closes things out - wisely, I'd say - with the short instrumental 'In a Desert', a crisp and catchy statement of what Tough Age do best.
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