Tuesday 07 June 2011
Alive and kicking
I’m not saying that it’s a direct result of winning, but if you look back on the first three years of the Polaris Music Prize, each of those winners (Final Fantasy, Patrick Watson, and Caribou) have followed up their award-winning record with an even better one. Each of these artists took what they were already doing (and arguably doing well) and decided to experiment in sonic architecture: take out a wall and expand into the next room; add skylights and natural lighting; redecorate in a retro style. In other words, take what’s there and let your imagination see the potential.
So it’s no surprise that the fourth band to claim Polaris’ prize would also follow suit and release an album that’s more ambitious and expansive than its predecessor. David Come To Life, the new album from Fucked Up is all those things for sure, but is it a better album than The Chemistry of Common Life? The short answer is yes, but the reason needs some explaining.
David Comes To Life is described by the band as a punk rock musical, but let’s not get hung up on the concept; rather, focus on the idea that “punk rock musical” represents. There is a through line to the songs and lyrics that focuses on the titular David, but since I’ve only been able to listen to the record streaming online, I didn’t have the benefit of a lyric sheet to discern the intricacies and minutiae details of the storyline. And you’ll need a lyric sheet if you want to know the story, since Damian Abraham growls and spits out the words–oh so many words!–in an often unintelligible manner. But, honestly, it’s not going to be long before you forget about the story of David. Instrumental opener “Let Her Rest” tells the tale of what’s about to follow: your ears are about to be assaulted by three guitar thugs who’ll overpower you with hardcore punk melody, with passion, angst, wonderment and disillusion. In short, it’s the music that makes this musical.
Don’t come to David’s town expecting a story arch, memorable characters or an intermission. Instead, approach Fucked Up’s conceptual opus as one of the aforementioned experiments in architecture. They’ve taken a globetrotting trip, picked up some unique ideas and accouterments, come home and added these new elements to they’re existing environment. The resulting transformation isn’t so much a reinvention, but a re-imagining of potential. What Fucked Up have ended up with may not be what they envisioned when the whole process started, but the results are pretty impressive nonetheless.
David Comes To Life is released today, June 7, on Matador Records.
Tweet
This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 7th, 2011 at 8:35 am and is filed under MP3, QBiM SPiNS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
PS I Love You
