In the battle of the most unorthodox singers who somehow weasle themselves into your heart, we have a winner!
While Hidden World is a whirling devish, Chemistry is a shroomed saunter through a veritable tollbooth of emotion. Both are simultaneously gritty and sublime.
NOTE: It honestly took me awhile to get into this group but once I did the rewards have been immeasurable. Like a heaven filled with virgins!
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AMG on Hidden World: Clearly aiming for that all-important Radio Disney demographic, the full-length debut by experimental Toronto punks Fucked Up follows several years' worth of deliberately provocative singles and EPs. After a half-decade spent continually messing with the audience's heads by flirting with Nazi imagery in their record sleeves and interviews and deliberately introducing non-punk elements like 20-minute guitar jams on their previous records, Hidden World is a surprisingly "normal" record in comparison to some of their earlier provocations. Based in hardcore but with a heavily experimental bent that borrows strongly from psychedelia and Krautrock, as well as contemporary anarchist punk outfits like the Ex, Hidden World consists of 13 lengthy songs that mesh lead singer Pink Eyes' standard-issue hardcore bark of a voice and muddled anarchist lyrics to a twin-guitar attack that traffics mostly in dynamic Sonic Youth-style drones and brief spazz-outs of purely experimental noise. Somewhat unexpectedly, Hidden World makes an argument for Fucked Up as part of the thriving Canadian post-rock scene, which the band has previously willfully ignored. Cameos by members of Final Fantasy, Alexisonfire, and the Arcade Fire (adding violin, acoustic guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals) contribute to this welcome cross-pollination. Enjoy it while you can, because previous history indicates that whatever Fucked Up do next, it won't sound anything like Hidden World.
Hear Hidden World
AMG on Chemistry of Common Life: It seems that Fucked Up's primary purpose in their massive pile of releases has been to push boundaries. Thus their name. Doing away with any preconceived notions of what a hardcore album by a volatile live act should be, their second Matador release, The Chemistry of Common Life, is a lush, expansive masterpiece that dismisses the theory that punkers have to follow a concrete formula of short and fast songs with raw-edged production. Here, tracks are layered meticulously by Mike Haliechuk -- the Kevin Shields/Billy Corgan sonic mastermind and guitarist of the group -- who teamed up with their usual producer, Jon Drew, to lay down nearly 70 tracks per song. Reportedly, the band recorded bare-boned versions before going on tour for a few months, and after writing a surplus of extra parts on the road, Haliechuk returned to add dozens of guitars to each song. This technique resulted in a massively thick shoegaze feel, with billowing washes of distortion waves crashing down behind Pink Eyes, who effortlessly, but violently delivers his patented Cookie Monster growl over top. It's a unique mash of styles, and iconoclastic as always. Of course, this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who has followed their haphazard career. Year of the Pig poo-pooed directness by including a song that was 18 minutes long, a three-minute drum solo was featured in Looking for Gold, Baiting the Public spread a single song over two sides of a record, making it impossible to hear seamlessly, and Hidden World went the distinctly unpunk orchestral route by incorporating strings from Arcade Fire's Owen Pallett. From the opening piccolo solo, it's obvious that Chemistry of Common Life follows the same anti-formula.
Hear Chemistry
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