So this is hard-core! Toronto outfit Fucked Up made up of members Pink Eye (Damian Abraham), 10,000 Marbles (Mike Haliechuk), Mustard Gas (Sandy Miranda), Concentration Camp (Josh Zucker), Mr. Jo (Jonah Falco) and Young Governor (Ben Cook) deliver their much anticipated album and with names like this you get the feeling you may be in for something special.
This is exactly what happens, from the opening flutes on the first track ‘Son of the Father’ to the bongo drums on ‘Magic Word’, the album shows the true talents of a band that has been promising so much for so long. While Pink Eye's vocals may sound shouted and guttural these help envisage a world dominated by the darker arts, and when you listen, you do hear the intelligent philosophy that the band can create.
The above-mentioned opener sets out the band’s stand and like the majority of the songs, its start is totally different form its end, lulling you in with a soft opening before devouring you in a sound of well maintained and crafted noise and what a joy it creates in doing so. Indeed, listening to ‘Days of Last’ reminds me of another great rock band At the Drive In, and one cannot get better praise than that. For all angry young men looking for angry music to vent, this song along with ‘Crooked Head’ could be the soundtrack to your winter prowling.
The intelligence in the writing that may appear hidden is really shown in ‘No Epiphany’ with its nihilistic lyrics and Black Albino Bones with a chorus of male harmonies "are you a little mistake", probably the most accessible songs on the album. Stand out track has to be ‘Twice Born’ as Pink Eye demands "hands up if you think your the only one" before later colliding "we all have our hands up" with driving drums, bass and rhythm that is certain to go down a live storm.
This album and the much anticipated new AC/DC record have proven that the monster that is rock is awaking from its slumber. I call on all that are sceptical of the genre and are happy in their quaint little lives to open themselves up and listen to this album, or for those of us who have ventured to pastures new become re-acquainted with the beast.
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