Fucked Up - David Comes To Life

Fucked Up - David Comes To Life
Always ones to confound expectations, these Canadian prog punkers followed up the disappointing 'The Chemistry Of Common Life' with this concept album which tells the story of a factory worker called David and a doomed love affair he has.

Queen Of Hearts takes a punk rock backbeat and overlays it with psych pop guitar lines while Pink Eyes bellows away with simmering rage. The female backing vocals even add a Juliana Hatfield '90s indie vibe to the mix. The Other Shoe has a similar stylistic mix with Skids style punk meeting '90s American indie whilst the vocals add a hardcore edge. Elsewhere, I Was There is swinging Fugazi-ish art core whilst the swirling sound effects give it a spacey feel.

Turn The Season is Gaslight Anthem's blue collar rock gone hardcore whilst  the Gaslight style guitar licks make A Slanted Tone very memorable. That Gaslight Anthem influence runs throughout much of the album which is surprising. Running On Nothing even has a country twang to it.

Ship Of Fools is more typical Fucked Up with that classic old school punk tempo and tone stretched to breaking point. A Little Death has a killer chorus while Remember My Name's obtuse chords give it a Fugazi-esque late '90s emo feel.

This album is a lot more melodic than previous releases although this melody comes largely from the guitar lines. It is essentially American radio rock filtered through Black Flag. The lyrics are excellent as always and really add to what is, overall, an ambitious and dazzling piece of art.