Fucked Up

Glass Boys

Written by: PP on 14/07/2014 23:17:14

There are few bands in hardcore as ambitious as Fucked Up have been throughout their career. Masterfully blending in post-punk, punk rock, and groovy guitar rock into their core hardcore expression, vocalist Damian Abraham and company have been thinking outside of the box for multiple albums and countless EPs now, but not before fourth album "Glass Boys" have they perfected their approach. They've kept improving album to album on their hipster hardcore platform, but on this one they hit the home run when it comes to the perfect balance between their signature ferocity and upbeat, uplifting melody.

Wavy songs like "Touch Stone" are irresistibly catchy without sacrificing their trademark razor-sharp vocals, underscoring an evolution from 2011's "David Comes To Life" that establishes a quintessential sound that defines how this band will sound like in the future. The aggression levels have been reduced once again, but it's for the better, because it allows the band to create beautiful arrangements such as "The Art Of Patrons", for instance. Here, harsh vocals contrast perfectly against treble-laden guitars and awesome riffage that gives the listener chills, and once the second half of the song explodes in dreamy melody and faded "it's the privilege....of mass delusion" backing vocals before circling back down into all elements at once, well, let's just say that the song is a candidate for one of the best this year.

Similar patterns continue throughout the record: the band deliver a fierce, but consistently melodic expression that translates into upbeat hardcore anthems that are playable on mainstream radio without losing any edge in the process. The fantastic production, which has been left on the raw and unpolished side, allows Abraham's vocals their sharp nature, and for the guitar distortion to vibrate and leave behind a buzzing, vivid soundscape. At the same time, it has just the right amount of polish to make sure we don't end up in crackling garage territory, even if we come borderline to that territory quite frequently throughout the record.

With songs like "Echo Boomer", "DET", "Sun Glass", and many others Fucked Up firmly position themselves far beyond the imagination of the rest of the hardcore scene. Hence the for the fans of section reads bands as varied as Metz, Japandroids, OFF!, and Hüsker Dü, as the band traverse across a wide variety of influences in their expression and leave no stone unturned. But where many other bands would be tempted to go for a grandiose hardcore opera type of an expression, Fucked Up keep their feet steadily on the ground and roll along with an intensely groovy, and almost unbelievably catchy soundscape throughout "Glass Boys". Candidate for the album of the year.

9

Download: The Art Of Patrons, Echo Boomer, DET, Sun Glass, Touch Stone
For the fans of: Metz, Japandroids, OFF!, Hüsker Dü
Listen: Facebook

Release date 03.06.2014
Matador Records

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