Even though I’ve listened to some of their material, I hadn't really plunged deep into Fucked Up-mania. It wasn’t until I checked out their new song “Paper The House” that I became captivated by the music of this tumultuous, rudely-named band. The tribal drum intro, the ecstatic guitar duel, and barechested frontman Damian Abraham’s face-melting, guttural howls make Glass Boys’ lead single a savory and addictive punk delicacy.
The latest album from Toronto punks Fucked Up is definitely less extravagant than 2011’s 78-minute long operatic concept album David Comes To Life (DCTL’s crazy storyline seems like a cross between Adaptation and Brazil). Nonetheless, Glass Boys is a pulverizing, volcanic 46 minutes of the sextet’s classic melodic, hardcore rock n’ roll.
Glass Boys begins with 30 seconds of a dainty toy piano, which “Echo Boomer” effortlessly punts out the window. The song's line "When the echo comes around/I turn everything down" is absolutely merciless. After a passionate acoustic guitar intro, the bright “Sun Glass” thrashes right into what sounds like Kurt Vile’s “Freak Train” put through a gigantic meat grinder. Its lyrics are very colorful and evocative, especially when Abraham screams, "Slow motion streaks of colour scream and bloom/Rejuvenations ocean spume perfume/Amber statues, precious baby rubies/Forever sacred diamond eyes look through me." The album is great rhythmically - thanks to Jonah Falco’s destructive beats - most noticeably on “Echo Boomer,” “Warm Change,” and “Paper The House.”
Fucked Up is praised and cherished by countless rock fans. Metalheads love them because they’re awesome to mosh to, pop punk kids adore the band’s catchy, power pop-esque guitar lines, and hipsters listen to Fucked Up because Pitchfork gave them positive reviews. The group’s sound has inspired promising acts like METZ, Diarrhea Planet, and The So So Glos. Glass Boys reinforces the fact that Fucked Up are one of the most intriguing and hands-down greatest punk bands of the 21st century.
