{"id":11886,"date":"2020-08-26T13:14:19","date_gmt":"2020-08-26T18:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/?p=11886"},"modified":"2026-05-06T18:50:30","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T23:50:30","slug":"tough-age-a-feelgood-fight-for-acceptance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2020\/08\/26\/tough-age-a-feelgood-fight-for-acceptance\/","title":{"rendered":"Tough Age :: A Feelgood Fight for Acceptance"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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by Chris Bryson<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the course of their career Tough Age has been refining and evolving a style of jangly indie pop with a fuzzy, lighthearted punk edge. Originally planned for release earlier in the year but postponed due to the state of the world, Tough Age\u2019s newest album, Which Way Am I?<\/em>, finds the band in tried and tested form, with some added twists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Jarrett Samson (vocals\/guitar) says his record collector history and musical curiosity is part of what has led the band into new directions. \u201cA lot of the stuff that I like is very varied and what I\u2019m drawing from is not often from music that sounds like what we\u2019re making,\u201d explains Samson, \u201cI think I just wanted to push against the expectations of what it is.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samson mentions folk rocker Richard Thompson as a huge influence, although he says it\u2019s not a through line that he thinks anyone would draw. He likes to have his influences a couple steps removed, and to look at them from different angles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The band\u2019s pushing against expectations is most evident on the second half of Which Way Am I?<\/em>, with an overall mellower vibe, which pairs nicely with the album\u2019s thematic dichotomy. \u201cI can only speak for myself. Penny\u2019s songs I can\u2019t speak to the motivation. But in the way we sequenced it, it was like the first side is fighting against acceptance, and the second side is sort of like acceptance,\u201d says Samson. \u201cIt\u2019s sort of like both sides of defeatism. A-side and B-side of self-defeat and self-flagellation.\u201d Samson wanted the first half of the album to be more singles-oriented tracks, and the latter half to be more coherent altogether.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second half of the album, the acceptance half, finds the band deviating from their sound with rewarding results. From the krautrock groove of \u201cRepose\u201d to the dreamy ambience of \u201cMathers Ave,\u201d to \u201cPossession\u2019s\u201d fluttering flute, the weaving and winding melodies of \u201cPatience Of Mind\u201d and the bubbly shimmering guitars of instrumental closer \u201cIn A Desert,\u201d Tough Age are growing beyond their roots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Samson says there won\u2019t be anything to commemorate the release of Which Way Am I?<\/em> quite yet, he\u2019s happy enough just to have it out for people to enjoy. Which Way Am I? <\/em>was released August 7 on Mint Records.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/tough-age.bandcamp.com\/album\/which-way-am-i<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Chris Bryson Over the course of their career Tough Age has been refining and evolving a style of jangly indie pop with a fuzzy, lighthearted punk edge. Originally planned for release earlier in the year but postponed due to the state of the world, Tough Age\u2019s newest album, Which Way Am I?, finds the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,1739],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-interview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11886"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11888,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11886\/revisions\/11888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}