Last night I cut my workout short so that I could make it to 930 in time to see the New Amsterdams open for the Weakerthans.  I was only going for the New Amsterdams because, as sad as it is to admit now, I had never heard anything from the Weakerthans.  At all.  I stayed after the New Amsterdams finished (great, as usual) figuring that I might as well catch a little bit of the show I paid to see.  I told myself that I had to stay for at least three songs to give these guys a chance, though I entirely expected the usual cookie cutter indie drivel like the Arctic Monkeys (that's right, I said it: drivel).  Well, I stayed for the whole show.  The Weakerthans rocked so hard, we need a new word for rock.  And hard.  I have never been that impressed by a band I had never heard - I liked every song, and just when I thought they couldn't get any better, they did.  If I had to classify the music, I'd say it's kind of like the bastard child of the Get Up Kids (or any of that late nineties emo punk) and Built to Spill (kind of).  The lyrics are clever as all hell, they had great stage presence, and the songwriting is just phenomenal.  After the show was over I went to the back and bought all three of their CDs.  I've never done that before with any band.  So yeah... I would check them out if I were you.