Archive for the ‘Fucked Up’ Category
Fiona’s Concert Picks of the Week
Another amazing week of music in Toronto. BON IVER! WINTER GLOVES! THE NAKED AND FAMOUS! FOO FIGHTERS! THE SHEEPDOGS! Too much awesomeness. I will be at Lee’s Palace Tuesday night for Winter Gloves and The Naked and Famous. Stoked. Happy concerting!
August 8 – The Rosebuds / Bon Iver @ Sound Academy
SOLD OUT
The Rosebuds – Woods
Bon Iver – Skinny Love
August 9 – Winter Gloves / The Naked & Famous @ Lee’s Palace
SOLD OUT
Winter Gloves – Dancing My Heart Out
The Naked and Famous – Young Blood
August 9 – Fucked Up / Doughboys / Foo Fighters @ Air Canada Centre
$55.75 – $75.75
Fucked Up – The Other Shoe
Foo Fighters – Rope
August 11 – Hands & Teeth / The Coppertone / The Balconies @ Rivoli
$10
Hands & Teeth – Race To The End
The Coppertone – I Know The Dead
The Balconies – 300 Pages
August 12 – Ruby Coast / Miracle Fortress @ Lower Ossington Theatre (Summerworks Series)
$10
Ruby Coast – Whatever This Is
Miracle Fortress – Everything Works
August 13 – 102.1 The Edge’s Sausagefest @ Sound Academy (feat. Public Enemy / The Sheepdogs / The Reason / The Salads)
FREE (sign up and win to get in)
Public Enemy – Bring The Noise
The Sheepdogs – Please Don’t Lead Me On
Top 5 Records of 2008 (Jon Pinkus)
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5. Fucked Up – The Chemistry of Common Life
Many Fucked Up fans were disillusioned by how many rules of punk rock were broken with this album. While the vocals still sound as dirty as ever and the energy is still there, the songs are much longer than punk songs are supposed to be, the guitars are massively layered, atmospheric, and the entire album seems drenched in reverb. The record somewhat echoes early Sparta material, but with a more bizarre, jagged approach. From the first jolting scream to the drawn out feedback closing the album, «The Chemistry of Common Life is one of the most engaging listens of the year.
Fucked Up – Son the Father
4. The Mars Volta – The Bedlam in Goliath
The Mars Volta are the most well known act in the world of intense progressive rock, and with this album the band has renewed its title as king. Bedlam surely is not a major departure from anything they’ve released previously, but it is the most intense encapsulation of the band’s abilities. Almost as if to apologize for the droning, anti-climactic nature of Amputechture, this album is relentless from start to finish, with a momentum that barely takes a breath for the entire 75 minute assault.
The Mars Volta – Metatron
3. Beast – s/t
This Montreal band has been touring with You Say Party! We Say Die! on a relatively unsuccessful tour that seemed endless up until now, but with this new record they have finally broken out. Falling somewhere between Nine Inch Nails, RATM, Portishead, and Muse – it’s Alternative, Hip Hop and Industrial, all tied together by the intense and all encompassing voice of Betty Bonifassi. Though one or two tracks on the album drag on, it’s strength is in powerful epics like Fingerprints and Devil. A must-listen of 2008.
Beast – Fingerprints
2. Portishead – Third
It seems like every album we`re so priviliged to get from this band is more incredible than the last (sadly Portishead does not adhere to the “album every two years” rule). But this isn`t 90s trip-hop anymore, this is 21st century Portishead. Songs like Machine Gun are darker and more haunting than ever before, but others like The Rip are some of the most beautiful songs ever written in the world of alternative genres. This album blends both jarring and pretty sounds like few records I have ever heard in my life.
Portishead – Machine Gun
1. Brazilian Girls – New York City
Behold what I would argue is not only the best experimental/alternative album of 2008, but the best record of the year, period. Exotic, intense, beautiful, sexy, bizarre, and mindblowing. It`s hard to put to words what this album does to you when you listen to it, but you may be a different person for listening all the way through just once. An incredible live act, and an equally impressive studio band, Brazilian Girls are exactly the kind of boost the alternative world needs in this unprecedented oversaturation of bands lobbying for our attention.
Brazilian Girls – Nouveau Americain
Canada’s Hottest Bands of 2008
I contributed to last month’s blogger compilation to vote for the Canada’s Hottest Bands of 2008 edition on I Heart Music. In brackets is where the band was placed. I only contributed the top 10 as well and I included 5 more bands that should be at least considered.
1. Crystal Castles (11th)
Crystal Castles were ones of the hottest bands of the year after their debut release and at times the most controversial e.g the Chiptunes controversy and the “stolen” artwork on old EP. They seem to have survived the criticism and are stronger then ever putting on crowded live events all while laying low in the media. I think they were easily the big winners when it comes to Canadian artists.
Magic Spells by Crystal Castles
2. Fucked Up (8th)
Fucked Up’s Common Chemistry of Life has been receiving good reviews from most places. From a critical standpoint the album has been Canada’s most successful artist in terms of being liked critically. They also played a cover of Blitzkrieg Bop with Moby…. Even if we didn’t think too highly of Fucked Up ourselves doesn’t change the fact that they have taken some people by storm.
Looking for God by Fucked Up
3. Black Mountain (T13)
Black Mountain released In The Future at the start of the year and was on the shortlist for the Polaris Prize. Bloggers and publications lauded the band calling it one of the year’s best despite the year just kicking off. They definitely kicked things off with a bang.
4. Chad VanGaalen (1st)
He looks like the front runner for next year’s Polaris Prize. He’s released a top notch album which most bloggers have enjoyed. Other then Now Magazine which has delusionally given the album a poor score (and continues to call it a weak outing in subsequent mentionings), it’s been a general consensus that Soft Airplane should be making our year end lists. Other then some magazines liking his work and all around blogger praise, I felt like he could’ve been bigger and of course is much more deserving. I think it’s one of the first times I’ve been criticized for giving a 4.25 out of 5.
Bare Feet on Wet Grip Tape by Chad VanGaalen
5. Wolf Parade (22nd)
Wolf Parade’s At Mount Zoomer was released to a high level of anticipation as they made their followup to the great Apologies To The Queen Mary. While the press wasn’t as good for Wolf Parade, their newfound art-rock direction and the lack of hits still won over many critics and fans for a solid year by one of Canada’s top bands. I especially enjoyed the album.
The Grey Estates by Wolf Parade
6. Cadence Weapon (T27)
I personally thought Cadence Weapon’s Afterparty Babies would make it in the short list as the rap representative but then I was introduced to Shad’s The Old Prince. While Shad was soaking in a lot of the publicity, his album was still a success after years of anticipation..
7. Chromeo (no rating – seriously?)
Though technically not fully Canadian. Chromeo had an awesome year despite Fancy Footwork being released last year. They had a breakthrough year with the release of the Double CD Deluxe Edition as well as stealing the spotlights from festivals by being one of the better live bands. They are planning to release some stuff and even now are creating some news by remixing some Vampire Weekend.
The Kids Don’t Stand A Chance (Chromeo Remix) by Vampire Weekend
8. Women (12th)
Women’s record was produced by Chad VanGaalen and enjoyed by many, including Christian. I personally wasn’t introduced in checking them out after hearing Black Rice and that may have been a major mistake because it isn’t so bad after another listen. From what I’ve heard from everyone it seems that their debut record is worthwhile and has blown people away.
9. Tokyo Police Club (#6)
I actually kind of dislike TPC. They are quite famous though receiving mainstream radio and television airplay in addition to being loved by teens and being utterly annoyed by various fans during Rogers Picnic. It was our goal to stay objective by including TPC even if I dislike them.
Nature of the Experiment by Tokyo Police Club
10. Shad (9th)
Shad released The Old Prince last year however he really broke out with the video of The Old Prince Still Lives At Home. The parody of the Fresh Prince of Bel- Air Intro. He looked like the runner-up in the Polaris Prize sweepstakes (I thought he was going to win) and I was a little disappointed personally he didn’t take it.
The Old Prince Still Lives At Home by Shad
The honorable mentions:
11. Caribou (3rd)
12. Woodhands
13. Holy Fuck
14. Plants and Animals (even if I’m in the only one who hates Parc Avenue)
15. Feist – She didn’t really do anything…
Fucked Up – The Common Chemistry of Life
The Chemistry of Common Life maybe the kind of post-hardcore record Agnostic Front dreamed of making in 1988, but I don’t know if it’s necessarily the record Fucked Up dreamed about making in 2008. With its seemingly misplaced keyboard, bongos and synthesizers (that wouldn’t be misplaced in an early 70’s Genesis album) Fucked Up’s attempt sonically to take punk rock to the next level. But you’ll need a bit more than a few bells and whistles to start a revolution. And a revolution is what Fucked Up is about.
It’s impossible not to slightly dissect an image when a band chooses a purposely offensive moniker. It’s impossible further not to dissect the grander intentions of a band when they trash the stage at MTV, not once but twice. Both times causing the network to prematurely end the groups performance. While both these destructive televised glimpses of the band are clearly electrifying (and exactly the stab of adrenaline post-millennium MTV needs) it’s the now-modern-classic-MTV-bathroom-performance that actually reveals a moment where the ambiguous Fucked Up are left as slightly transparent with their possible true intentions left dripping to a wall.
This of course is when “Kurt RIP” is spray painted on to the washroom tile.
While I’m positive irony must have been in tact, it’s hard not to see the words as Fucked Up’s glowing mantra, following what every famous-underground-mainstream group has done in the past: not just piss people off but piss people off in large numbers.
So this is where things get interesting…While Fucked Up appear to be doing everything in their power to say “fuck you” to the media, they’re actually playing the anti-marketing-marketing card (thanks Mr. Hicks)…
This isn’t a problem at all.
If anything this is what our current mainstream music scene needs.
The problem is…
These boys clearly are striving for that delicate blend of punk of pop, soft and loud, the Raw Power or Nevermind of our generation, a hardcore record that may even entice a regular radio listener to buy it. And while The Chemistry of Common Life flirts with these ideas, it’s ultimately just the type of record that will only push hardcore bands/listeners into new ways of thinking about their music, leaving the average listener without much to cling to. The album just isn’t listenable enough, for all the ambition caked in.
This is just one of those rare cases where the hype of the band clearly doesn’t match the strength of the music. What this actually means? Smart Band.
Not that the album is completely a wash. The strongest portion of the album oddly enough occurs at the end of the disc with the last three tracks: Twice Born, Looking for God, and the title track. If the rest of the album could have matched the epicness held in the last 15 minutes, this would have been the hardcore record of the decade.
So while Fucked Up will definitely cause many bands out there to open their eyes to what’s possible in music, it probably won’t cause many new listeners to open their ears.
3.1 out of 5
i.e. Listen to it, but don’t rest the future of punk/hardcore on it
Looking For God by Fucked Up
Twice Born by Fucked Up
