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Album Review

Fucked Up
Couple Tracks Matador Records

Article written by Ged M - Feb 2, 2010

Fucked Up: Couple Tracks

Fucked Up’s Wikipedia page lists 42 demos, split singles, EPs, charity records and tapes released between 2002 and 2009. The number of labels involved isn’t far short of that either. Couple Tracks collects 25 tracks spanning this period, from the debut 7” ‘No Pasaran’ in 2002 to a version of last year’s ‘No Epiphany’ single. Damian Abraham’s vocals might be screaming hardcore in style and the guitars and drums are played at a rattling rate but these songs reveal that there are tunes beneath the tangle of screams and riffs. This is no angst teen outpouring but a set of smart songs played at breakneck speed. There’s politics, from the Spanish Civil War (‘No Pasaran’) to support for local Toronto causes in the charity single ‘David Christmas’; there’s humour (‘Ban Violins’ was a piss-talking reaction to the growing size of Canadian bands) and there’s – strangely enough - pop.

Even on the first disc, subtitled ‘The Hard Stuff’, the Black Flag-style hardcore propulsion of ‘Triumph of Life’ has the Ramones’ melodic understanding built in while the ‘Crooked Head’ edit is just joyous punk pop. That is emphasised on disc two (“The Fun Stuff”) where the inspiration of the Undertones and a surprising love of indiepop are revealed (“wow, we sure love twee” read the sleevenotes). Here are cover versions of the Shop Assistants, Dolly Mixture and Another Sunny Day. Abraham’s “ooh ooh oohs” and the aching feedback turn Dolly Mixture’s ‘Dream Come True’ into something more menacing while the mismatch of voice to lyrics in ‘He’s So Frisky’ just add to the charm. Their superfast treatment of ‘I Don’t Want To Be Friends With You’ by the Shoppies does what a cover version should: modify but make something equally impressive out of a great song.

One of the reasons why the compilation is so good is that it can satisfy everyone from Q Magazine to NME and Kerrang! without pandering to any audience. They profess a love of the Shop Assistants and then churn out an oppressively heavy sound through Russian amps (‘Last Man Standing’). Like The Chemistry of Common Life showed last year, they can be memorable, fast and fun.

Links:
http://www.matadorrecords.com/fucked_up/
http://www.myspace.com/epicsinminutes

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