Fucked Up -‘The Chemistry Of Modern Life.’ (Matador).

And, damn it, Matador just keep on doing it! This is the second album from the Toronto band with the moniker unlikely to trouble daytime radio (at least in the UK, wheer we can be frightfull uptight and repressed about that sort of thing) and it just adds to the lebgthy list of great albums that the label have released this year. To say nothing of adding to a frighteningly long list of music released over the last half decade by the band themselves.

FU don’t have a myspace, which seems pretty damn radical and anti-establishment in 2008. Hell, to describe Fucked Up is to flail around for descriptions only to find that they’re far from water tight. They are a hardcore punk band, who have released tracks that are eighteen minutes long and used multitracking. Opener ‘Son The Father’ starts off with flutes, for goodness sake. If you think Hardcore means anti-melodic, short bursts of noise, and worthy but inaudible lyrics, then FU have come to change your perception on all of that. They’re punks at heart, but they bring punk, and hardcore punk at that, a reinvigorated feeling. This is an album that does not stop for breath, but contains as much invention as you could hope for from a Flaming Lips album.

Having made it onto the cover of NME and gained a fair amount of coverage, there will be no doubt those who scream sellout. (usually whilst funded by a trust fund). Each repeated play reveals something new. From it’s opener onwards, onto first single ‘No Epiphany’ and the closing title track, this album is sure to feature in many of the year’s best of lists. And it has earned its’ place.

****

Fucked Up -‘No Epiphany.’ mp3

Fucked Up -‘Twice Born.’ mp3

The Chemistry Of Modern Life is out now on Matador.