Rating: NNN
Hamilton’s the Reason hit the scene in 04 as one of a gazillion southern Ontario emo-hardcore bands, stealing Grade’s riffs and Dennis Lyxzen’s vocal tricks. One EP and a full-length later, the Reason sound like they’ve finally come into a sound more their own. Keyboards are forefront, acoustic guitars get more play, and singer Adam White delivers whiny pop hooks instead of aggro emo wails. The testosterone is so toned down, even Sara ‘sister of Tegan’ Quin duets with him on a relationship counselling song called We’re So Beyond This. There are a few banal transgressions, If My Tongue Could Talk being the main offender, but the Reason at least took some chances on Things, and sound all the better for it.
The Reason play the Opera House Sunday (February 25).
