I used to waste more time making extensive album of the year lists, then I took an arrow in the knee. FUS RO DAH!

© Brian Banks, Editor, Music Vice

North By North East music festival was another blurry fun-filled week of music and shenanigans in Canada’s music capital, Toronto. Everybody’s experiences are different, natch, but I will remember NXNE 2011 for a few reasons. Here’s my cut-to-the-chase look back at what mattered at NXNE 2011 to me.

Un: Jay Reatard movie premiere Better Than Something

At 5.30pm on Saturday afternoon at NXNE I joined an audience of a not much more than a couple dozen people for the screening of the new Jay Reatard documentary Better Than Something; I’d arrived over half an hour early in earnest, expecting a big line-up but I found myself forming what would be a very short queue. The turn-out might was low but for those of us who made it, we were lucky to see an excellent documentary in one of this city’s best kept secrets, the fantastic Toronto Underground Cinema.

Better Than Something features candid home-video style footage of Jay Reatard, right up to a point near his death in January 2010, together with live footage and interviews of friends and band mates. The movie is an immersing and moving profile of one of the most prolific DIY artists to ever live, with the story being told by Jay himself through an extensive interview. Jay truly didn’t let anything stop him from doing what he wanted to do in life, which was to make music and you really need to see this film to get a grasp of just how intuitve and resourceful Jay was in his approach to making music; like using an empty tub of Kernels popcorn as a drum when he had no drum kit and self-recording and producing nearly everything he released, creating over 100 7”s, EPs and albums in total. Better Than Something is filled with plenty of funny moments too and is not the dark biopic you might expect – there are numerous accounts of how Jay liked to ‘straighten people out’ if he thought they needed a slap to the jaw, or sometimes he’d just like to do stuff like kick his bass player in the dick for the hell of it…. legend.

Better Than Something was the highlight of NXNE 2011 for me. Nothing else came close. I found this film to be very inspiring. Better Than Something is currently doing the rounds at film festivals – no news yet on a DVD release but you can keep up to date with info at the BTN website. I recommend anyone to see this movie as soon as they get the chance.

Deux: USA Out Of Vietnam

My favourite new band discovery at NXNE 2011. To be frank, I heard a lot of the same old dross at NXNE venues this year but this band of Montreal delivered something different. Something interesting… totally sucked me in. USA Out Of Vietnam are a cut above.

Trois: Fucked Up at Dundas Square

An immense “coming of age” hometown concert for Fucked Up, with the band having just reached the next level with the release of their hardcore opera David Comes To Life. Well done guys, tipped hats all round. Next stop, supporting Foo Fighters – say hello to Dave.

© Brian Banks, Editor, Music Vice

Internet links:
Better Than Something
You can follow me on Twitter and Tumblr

POWER BOMBING!

The Gig: Fucked Up
Where: Yonge-Dundas Square, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
When: 16 June 2011
In One Word: Unprecedented

On 16 June 2011, Toronto’s equivalent of Times Square was closed-off to traffic to make way for the Thursday night headline bill of Fucked Up, OFF and Descendents at North By North East music festival. The members of bands OFF and Descendents have already blazed their own trails and secured their individual places in the history books of American punk rock, however, for Toronto’s own Fucked Up, tonight was something of a coming of age.

Since I first visited Toronto in 2006 I have watched Fucked Up grow to become one of the biggest bands in Canada. Their live shows have been some of the liveliest and most engaging concerts I have ever been to. Aside from consistently high-octane live displays, Fucked Up have also grown tremendously as a band. 2008′s The Chemistry Of Common Life was a landmark record which broke new ground for a band whose musical genre is pegged as hardcore. Now with 2011′s hardcore opera David Comes To Life, Fucked Up have advanced further with their most creative and expansive recording yet and have made one of the most interesting rock albums of the year.

Fucked Up celebrated their music in the heart of their home city to a crowd of thousands of jubilant fans. It was the ultimate hometown show. There can no doubts now that Fucked Up have well and truly arrived as one of Toronto and Canada’s flagship bands.

© Brian Banks, Editor, Music Vice

Pictures of Fucked Up at Dundas Square:

Related internet links:
Fucked Up
Brian Banks

Title: David Comes To Life
Artist: Fucked Up
Label: Matador
Released: 7 June 2011
In one word: Outstanding

Toronto rock band Fucked Up are doing things never done before in the hardcore genre. Earlier this June, Fucked Up released their most ambitious and greatest album yet, David Comes To Life – a hardcore opera, which is also a love story at its roots. In terms of the sound, the album is expansive and multi-layered.

If it wasn’t for Damian Abraham’s venomously spat vocals you wouldn’t even be able to brand it hardcore. This was summed up best by the band themselves in a recent interview between Jonah Falco and myself:

“The form of the music is hardcore music, and every connotation of hardcore music for anyone who isn’t familiar with it is instantaneously negative; the form of the music is loud and aggressive and if you see a picture of Fucked Up you might see a picture of Damian bleeding or something. So immediately you get one set of expectations but then the content of the band has  always sort of been flying in the face of that. And I feel like it’s taking us 10 years to finally do something that has created a balanced texture between the form and content of the band. We’ve let a decade of time go past for people get used to knowing this name and we’ve also given them the exact same amount of time to understand that despite that, and despite the world we are coming from, the content isn’t literally represented by the form.” Jonah Falco, Fucked Up.

David Comes To Life is the sound of a band achieving their own outstanding potential.

© Brian Banks, Editor, Music Vice

Internet links: Fucked Up

Fucked Up band members Jonah, Sandy and Ben at their Pop-up Record Store launch yesterday in Toronto for David Comes To Life

Download: Radio Wunderbar Episode 20 [AAC podcast. 1 hours 49 minutes 101.5 MB. Right-click and ‘save as’ to download.]

Radio Wunderbar #020 – broadcast 5 June 2011
Banzaaaaaai! This show was a punk special featuring Toronto bands Fucked Up and Teenage X in honour of the new albums being released by both bands on the same weekend. The opening half of the show starts with an interview with Mr. Jo from Fucked Up, which I recorded on Friday, 3 June. Jonah talks about the new FU record David Comes To Life, on the eve of it’s release on Matador records. Jonah then talks about NXNE 2011 and also recounts his own beginnings in Fucked Up as a drummer who started out in the band without a kit or any previous experience. Jonah then introduces his favourite two tracks from the new album.

After a change in tempo for a few songs, Radio Wunderbar’s French music champion Natascha Malta takes to the mic to spin a few tracks. Then things go punk again, with choice tracks from OFF and Descendents leading into the last half hour of the show which features an interview with Teenage X. Teenage X spoke to me at the Bovine Sex Club on Saturday night, 4 June, on the night of their debut album lauch for Drink Dance Destroy. Rich, Phil, Sarah and Mikey talked about their record, the recording process (and related shenanigans), before moving on to discuss Toronto’s punk community with an open and honest assessment of the scene from the perspective of an established gigging band.

For those wishing to fast-forward: catch Jonah from Fucked Up talking from 24 seconds in, and catch Teenage X from 1 hour 24 mins, 19 seconds.

Links:

Fucked Up
Teenage X

Radio Wunderbar is a weekly radio show and podcast hosted by Music Vice editor Brian Banks since January 2011.  Spinning an eclectic mix of new independent artists from around the world, including lots of new music from the Music Vice mail bag. There are also regular interviews, live guest bands and exclusive first plays. The show Broadcast live online every Sunday from Toronto, Canada on Indie Love Radio and podcasted to the world via Music Vice at RadioWunderbar.com. Music Vice and Radio Wunderbar are 100% independent, volunteer-run DIY publications – if you dig us, please help cross-promote our website and podcast.

© Brian Banks, Editor, Music Vice]

Gig/Concert: Fucked Up with One Hundred Dollars
Venue: Toronto Reference Library, Toronto, ON, Canada
Date: 28 May 2010
In one word: Unorthodox

It probably doesn’t surprise you that the Toronto Public Library is the largest public library in this fair nation. It has 99 branches, and has a catalogue of 11 million different items in various media available for loan or to view. If you do a little looking on the TPL website, you can read that the Toronto Public Library strives to “preserve and promote universal access to a broad range of human knowledge, experience, information and ideas” and they strive to “encourage (creativity and) innovation in how (they)underttake (their) work”.

For those of you who haven’t been to the library lately, let me spell out just what all this library jargon is getting at. It means being able to access library resources (books, music, movies, etc.) on the internet, it means playing host to the free Toronto Comic Arts Fair, and most excitingly this means a series of free concerts and workshops from the hottest Canadian local indie acts which the library calls Make Some Noise.

The Make Some Noise concert and workshop series is sponsored by Soundscapes record store, Exclaim magazine, and the Polaris Prize for Canadian independent music. The latest installment was staged this past Friday night at the crown jewel and main branch of the Toronto Public Library, which is the reference library at Yonge and Bloor. The showcase was the unlikely pairing of two very stylistically different Toronto based acts, country act One Hundred Dollars and hardcore band Fucked Up.

One Hundred Dollars are a country band with a sound that’s rooted in classic. I saw them perform last December as a special guest of Jason Collett on the last night of his Dakota Tavern residency, and I was sold on them. The band is fronted by the young Simone Schmidt whose look is as charmingly unpolished as the sound of her voice. Rawer still are her lyrics about life working 14 hour days in the Timmon mines, or on the Alberta Tarsands. Her lyrical tendency to cover pressing issues facing the nation reminds me of my favourite country artist, the man in black, Mr. Johnny Cash. It’s just a shame that it’s so hard to hear her between the poor acoustics (all those books absorb a lot of sound) and the chatter. People look a little bored. When I ask her about it, she responds with a self-assured shrug. “What do you expect? It’s a punk show.”

Fucked Up is last year’s unlikely Polaris Prize winner, and when they get up on stage the tone of the show totally changes. As I catch the first few strains of the band’s unique blend of punk rock and metal music, I find myself surprised that I’m enjoying this punk show for indie kids. Almost immediately moshing breaks out in front of the stage. Before the show I was reading about how Fucked Up’s fans are famous for destroying shit, and the librarians must be well aware because there’s a library worker or two up on stage holding onto the amplifiers which are getting a bit of a beating.

The lead singer of Fucked Up is the only one that looks like they should be in a hardcore band. He’s hairy, bearded, covered in tattoos, can shout like he’s getting paid, and is friendly? He brings his baby son onto stage for a song he’s nicknamed “Holden” (the real song name alludes me). The gesture is more sentimental than I was expecting, until he calls baby Holden the result of unprotected sex. As well as doing the genre better than anyone else I’ve ever seen, Fucked Up get some mad cred from me for releasing a series of benefit records with 100% of the profits going to help find missing and murdered aboriginal women. (One Hundred Dollars was brought on board to the project in 2007, which is where the unlikely pairing shares some common ground.) “If you’re going to buy anything from us tonight,” lead singer Damian Abraham tells us, “buy this record. Download the rest. You’re taking food out of the mouth of my child, but that’s fine.”

The highlight of the night definitely comes though when Fucked Up performed the latest from their zodiac series, “a dramatic reading of year of the ox (for our listening pleasure)”. By the end of nigh fans were going crazy, swarming the stage to dance with the band, and then diving into the crowd for a little surf. Madness, but contained madness. If these guys had been around when I was in highschool they would’ve been gods, but since they weren’t, then they must be the most fun I’ve had in a library (since the last TPL Make Some Noise installation anyways).

“I’m sure I’m not the first shirtless guy in the reference library”, Damian jokes with us as he peels off a layer of clothing sweat-soaked from the intensity of his performance. Hopefully he won’t be the last. Somewhere in their graves are the restless bones of passed librarians, rolling over at the thought that anyone called Fucked Up would be promoted at the public library. They’re probably burning with anger thinking of Simone singing her lyrics about girls who never come when they get “Careless Love”. Instead the librarians have decided to legitamize Canadian indie culture by using their public space to provide free shows open to all ages, and preserving a catalogue of indie music which is available for loan at any of the library locations. You can check out what’s hot in indie music, as well as follow upcoming performances and free workshops on how to make music or promote your band at Make Some Noise. Kinda makes you want to check out the public library, now doesn’t it?

© Natascha Malta, Music Vice

Toronto’s hometown hardcore faves Fucked Up playing in a public library? With One Hundred Dollars in support? And a crowd of four or five hundred people, foot-shuffling, moshing, crashing in waves, and even surfing to it all? While I ran around from the first to fourth floors, chasing light and trying to create art while capturing my own perspective on this unique and unorthodox gig?

Yes, yes, yes and yes!

I didn’t dream it, it happened. There was live music in a public library.  Perhaps the most memorable moment was when Fucked Up’s Pink Eyes/Damian Abraham manned a library speaker podium for a special ‘reading’ of “Year Of The Ox”. But the whole evening was memorable. It was a fantastic experience, and I want to see more music in the library. I’m all for Toronto Public Library’s Make Some Noise programme, and MV will be supporting it any way we can.

© Brian Banks, Editor, Music Vice

Pictures of Fucked Up and One Hundred Dollars:

Gig/Concert: Fucked Up with Kurt Vile, The D’Urbervilles, GIVE
Venue: Opera House, Queen Street East, Toronto, ON, Canada
Date: 26 February 2010
Headliners: Fucked Up
In one word: Vigourous

On a wintry Friday night at the Opera House in Toronto’s east end two of the area’s best local bands took to the stage. Established hardcore hero’s Fucked Up headlined, while The D’Urbervilles affirmed themselves further as one of the most exciting and important new bands to emerge from this city.

First up were GIVE, a hardcore band who introduced themselves as being from Washington, DC – with the drummer Gene Melkisethian proudly showing their roots by wearing a Black Flag shirt. So what does 2010 DC HC sound like? Pretty freaking good! The influences of DC elder statesmen can be easily picked out in their music, but there’s a bit more going on here than just a straight rehash of early 80’s era hardcore.

It took mere seconds for GIVE to make an impact, with a vigourous display sparking interest and curiosity from the crowd, and succeeding in diverting most people’s attention away from the Olympic hockey action showing on the tellies behind the bar.  The crunching drive of “Godspeeding” was one of the picks of their set, a song with some nice dirty beats and cool coarse vocals supplied by the floppy-haired singer John Scharbach. This was a tight display by a band who will hopefully return to play Toronto again sometime soon. GIVE recently released their debut 12” EP and it’s a record worth seeking out for the flower power artwork alone.

A sultry bass groove signalled The D’Urbervilles arrival on stage. It was noticeable tonight that there were fans at the front who had come out especially for The D’Urbs and it’s great to see their following continue to grow. It was another good gig by the band who tonight played some new songs, while “Spin The Bottle” and “Dragnet” were two favourites from We Are The Hunters which were well-received. The D’Urbervilles are a band that Toronto can really shout about loudly and be proud to call their own, and we can enjoy getting used to seeing them appear at bigger and bigger gigs. These guys are a bit special.

Backed by a guy on a drum/maraca/tambourine/acoustic, Kurt Vile, his face obscured by hair, played guitar and sung with the assistance of echo and chorus effects to create a swirling lo-fi sound. Vile has a singing style that lands somewhere between Bob Dylan and a stroke victim (don’t ask me what the difference is). After the first song, someone had heckled “You suck!”, to which Vile replied without hesitation, “Your mom!” – this spitfire reaction was as amusing as it was instinctive. My interest waned fast and within 20 minutes the majority of the crowd were talking among themselves. There is a fine line between being mellow and being boring and Kurt Vile crossed it.

The mood and atmosphere was transformed inside the Opera House as Fucked Up came on – predictably enough, things really kicked off, in every sense. The flute opening of “Son the Father” by drummer Jonah Falco’s mother provided the 20 seconds of calm before the ensuing storm of hardcore chaos. Kids let loose in the pit and used the stage as a springboard, including GIVE’s Scharbach who somersaulted off the monitor, as Fucked Up played through The Chemistry of Common Life.  Good times were being had by all, aside from an onstage scuffle when someone leapt from the crowd to accost a fellow patron who had been handed the mic, but the attacker was quickly booted out the side door. Otherwise the level of rock show etiquette tonight was at an exemplary level, as demonstrated by the way the audience passed singer Damian Abraham’s mic cord over their heads as he walked through the crowd, going all the way to the back underneath the balcony and stepping up on the bars.

Damian spoke fondly of his pleasure of playing tonight at the Opera House and regaled how as a kid of 15 he saw his first ever show at the venue, and also revealing that he had played here before in a previous band with bassist Sandy Miranda. This moment of open reminiscence served as a pre-cursor to requesting that the audience kindly form a circle pit for “Baiting the Public”, from the band’s 2003 7”. Fucked Up stayed on stage for the token encore moment, playing Sex Pistols’ “Bodies” and finishing up with “Police”.

© Brian Banks, Music Vice

Photos of Fucked Up, The D’Urbervilles, GIVE and Kurt Vile

Related links:
GIVE – MySpace
Kurt Vile – MySpace
The D’Urbervilles – MySpace

Music Vice’s gig guide for February 2010 with concert listings with our pick of shows in Australia, Canada/USA and the UK. These are the shows we think you should check out – some of which you might find us at too!

Australia

Soundwave Festival
Check out our special Soundwave preview for full details.

AC/DC
Australia’s favourite sons play dates nationwide in February and early March.

11 Feb 2010 Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
13 Feb 2010 Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
15 Feb 2010 Etihad Stadium, Melbourne
18 Feb 2010 ANZ Stadium, Sydney
20 Feb 2010 ANZ Stadium, Sydney
22 Feb 2010 ANZ Stadium, Sydney
25 Feb 2010 QSAC, Brisbane
27 Feb 2010 QSAC, Brisbane
2 Mar 2010 Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
6 Mar 2010 Subicao Oval, Perth
8 Mar 2010 Subicao Oval, Perth

Ash Grunwald
Aussie blues singer-songwriter Ash Grunwald is playing a few dates in February and one in early March. His live album Live at the Fly by Night is released this February, and we recommend you catch him in the flesh if he’s coming to your town.

5 Feb 2010 HiFi Bar, Melbourne, Victoria
12 Feb 2010 The Metro, Sydney, New South Wales
13 Feb 2010 The Zoo, Brisbane, Queensland
27 Feb 2010 Corinbank Festival, Corinbank, Australia
4 Mar 2010 Coolangatta Hotel, Coolangatta, Queensland

A Place To Bury Strangers
Catch them if you can at one of two East Coast dates before they head back to North America in March for a tour with The Big Pink.

11 Feb 2010 Oxford Arts Factory, Sydney, Australia
12 Feb 2010 Corner Hotel, Melbourne, Australia

Kill Devil Hills
“With more hair than a barber-shop floor and their rocking, outlaw sounds, the Kill Devil Hills are a spectacle not to be missed.” So, you know, don’t miss them.

KDH are playing dates in Australia throughout February. See their show listings here.

Related link: Live Review, Photos and Setlist – Kill Devil Hills at Mojo’s Bar, Fremantle, 17 July 2009

US/Canada

Meaghan Smith
In the run up to the Canadian launch of her debut album The Cricket’s Orchestra which is set for release on February 9th, Meaghan Smith is playing three shows. A class act worth checking out.

4 Feb, 2010 Centennial Hall, London, ON
5 Feb, 2010 Olympia Theater Montreal, QC
6 Feb, 2010 Centerpoint Theater, Ottawa, ON

Taken By Trees
Victoria Bergsman takes her solo project on the road with dates in US and Canada. Taken By Trees’ debut East Of Eden was fantastic.

Taken By Trees

13 Feb 2010     UNION HALL BROOKLYN, New York
14 Feb 2010    WORLD CAFÉ with EL PERRO DEL MAR, PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania
16 Feb 2010     LE POISSON ROUGE with EL PERRO DEL MAR, NEW YORK, New York
17 Feb 2010     THE KNITTING FACTORY with EL PERRO DEL MAR, BROOKLYN, New York
19 Feb 2010     CAMBRIDGE YMCA THEATRE with EL PERRO DEL MAR, CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts
20 Feb 2010     IL MOTORE with EL PERRO DEL MAR, MONTREAL, Quebec
21 Feb 2010     MOD CLUB with EL PERRO DEL MAR, TORONTO, Ontario
22 Feb 2010     SCHUBAS with EL PERRO DEL MAR, CHICAGO, Illinois
23 Feb 2010     CEDAR CULTURE CENTER with EL PERRO DEL MAR, MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota
26 Feb 2010     TRIPLE DOOR with EL PERRO DEL MAR, SEATTLE, Washington
27 Feb 2010     BILTMORE with EL PERRO DEL MAR, VANCOUVER, British Columbia
28 Feb 2010     DOUG FIR with EL PERRO DEL MAR, PORTLAND, Oregon
2 Mar 2010     CAFÉ DU NORD with EL PERRO DEL MAR, SAN FRANCISCO, California
3 Mar 2010     THE TROUBADOUR with EL PERRO DEL MAR, LOS ANGELES, California

Editors
One of the better British indie bands to emerge from the last decade.

Feb 05 Showbox at the Market, Seattle, WA
Feb 06 Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, BC
Feb 08 The Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA
Feb 09 House of Blues, San Diego, CA
Feb 11  The Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA
Feb 13 Ogden Theatre, Denver, CO
Feb 15 Victoria Theatre, Chicago, IL
Feb 16 Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, ON
Feb 18 House of Blues, Boston, MA
Feb 19 Terminal 5, New York, NY
Feb 20 Trocadero, Philadelphia, PA
Feb 21 9:30 Club, Washington, DC

Fucked Up
Following the recent release of their latest record Couple Tracks, Toronto hardcore troubadours Fucked Up hit the road.

Fucked Up go on tour this February

12 Feb 2010 The ‘Sco / Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio
13 Feb 2010 Empty Bottle, Chicago, Illinois
14 Feb 2010 Video Saloon, Bloomington, Indiana
15 Feb 2010 Southgate House Newport, Kentucky
16 Feb 2010 Ottobar Baltimore, Maryland
17 Feb 2010 Barbary Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
18 Feb 2010 Maxwell’s, Hoboken, New Jersey
19 Feb 2010 Europa Brooklyn, New York
20 Feb 2010 Middle East, Boston, Massachusetts
21 Feb 2010 La Sala Rossa, Montreal, QC
23 Feb 2010 L3 Nightclub, St Catharines, Ontario

Mumford & Sons
Probably of the most exciting things to happen to folk since, well, since ever. The North American release of their debut album Sigh No More is slated for February 15th. Highly recommended.

9 Feb 2010 The Troubadour, Los Angeles, CA
11 Feb 2010 Pop Scene, San Fransisco, CA
15 Feb 2010 Lee’s Palace, Toronto, ON
18 Feb 2010 Bowery Ballroom, New York City, NY

United Kingdom

Shockwaves NME Awards Tour

Seems like most the bands in the UK are hibernating right now from what’s been pretty much the coldest winter ever, while others are playing Down Under or over in North America. So some slim pickings for February, but the NME Awards Tour is worth a look to catch the Big Pink, The Maccabees, Bombay Bicycle Club and Drums.

4 Newcastle O2 Academy
5 Glasgow Barrowland
6 Manchester Academy
7 Leeds O2 Academy
9 Nottingham Rock City
10 Norwich UEA
11 Birmingham O2 Academy
13 Cardiff University
14 Bristol O2 Academy
15 Brighton Dome
16 Bournemouth O2 Academy
18 Portsmouth Pyramids Centre
19 Cambridge Corn Exchange
20 Brixton O2 Academy
Related links:
Live Review – The Maccabees at Manchester Academy, 6 October 2009, Live Review – The Big Pink at Lee’s Palace, Toronto, 29 November 2009

Title: Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009
Artist: Fucked Up
Label: Matador Records
Released: 26 January 2010
In one word: Essential

Fucked Up’s rise into our collective consciousnesses in 2009 was unprecedented. The headlines in 2009 after they scooped the Polaris Music Prize put the Toronto band in the spotlight, and also it has to be said, gave merit and a whole lot of publicity to the Polaris gong itself, an award which only started in 2006 and is similar to the Mercury Music Prize in the UK. What was really groundbreaking was the fact that suddenly it was OK for broadsheet newspapers in Canada and abroad to announce Fucked Up’s name in headlines without any asterisks or other kind of censorship, and more than this, it was equally OK for critics of the same publications to give acclaim (although not universal) to the band for making what was on musical terms an equally groundbreaking album for the band.

“No longer were Fucked Up just another hardcore band”

Fucked Up’s Polaris success was fully deserved. The Chemistry of Common Life is a great record, (it made it into my top 20 of the 2000s): it really was packed full of pleasant surprises, with dynamic and atmospheric soundscapes created by a diverse mix of instrumentals and varying song structures. The white-knuckle vocals of Pink Eyes, now better known by his real name Damian Abraham, were still there to remind us that Fucked Up were hardcore to the core, but the crux is that with such an experimental release they were now smashing down sound barriers. No longer were Fucked Up “Just another hardcore band’.

The mushrooming popularity of Fucked Up meant that many new fans who found the band with Chemistry were likely to do the thing that we all do when we find a new favourite band, that being to check out their older stuff, but the problem with that is that most of Fucked Up’s dozens of previous releases have been on short-runs of 7” vinyl. This is where Couple Tracks comes in.

Couple Tracks: Singles 2002-2009 is a double-CD release that does exactly what it say it does, serving up 25 Fucked Up tracks from releases during the band’s first year right up to the here and now. Meanwhile the actual album cover itself sees Fucked Up recreate the artwork from their previous singles compo Epics In Minutes, released in 2004, but now with the additional band members included.

Fittingly, the first track “No Pasaran” is the band’s debut 7”, released in 2002. With it’s intro sound-byte taken from the Spanish civil war movie Land and Freedom you might expect some kind of anti-Franco rallying cry to follow, but honestly, don’t expect to hear this song played at Barcelona FC as a Catalonia or Basque anthem, a fact that the band allude to in the extensive liner notes included with Couple Tracks, “We’ve played this song less than 10 times ever, the last being in Barcelona, where we thought it would be appropriate, but was actually just kind of tacky.” Instead, “No Parasan” is a track that shows the roots of Fucked Up as it flies by at breakneck speed, with plenty of thrash and a statement of ‘They won’t fuck with us much longer’ delivered with those aforementioned white-knuckle vocals.

On an altogether lighter note, and not even attempting to be political, “Teenage Problems (edit)” is a choice track and one one in which the band openly admit to borrowing the beat from The Undertones song “My Perfect Cousin”. It’s the same deal for “Neat Parts”, while the tunes “I Hate Summer” and “Anorak City” are in a similar vein, the latter song being especially John Peel-esque in it’s original form as a song by Another Sunny Day. It wouldn’t be completely ridiculous or too much of a stretch to say that Fucked Up are a bit like this generation’s equivalent to The Undertones. Obviously, Fucked Up have a far more abrasive sound, and a less one-dimensional sound at that, but that’s fitting for the times because singing songs about Mars Bars and PG-rated tales of teenage hijinks wouldn’t cut it when kids these days have access to everything. Bands making music suitable to be played on pre-watershed Top Of The Pops is no longer in the equation, anything goes. (The Undertones predicted as much once with the line “Family entertainment will come to an end”.)

The liner notes are a really nice bonus, and another one I laughed out loud to was the notes for “Toronto FC”. I’m not going to quote it all but even the lead-in line of “Toronto FC is the name of Toronto’s new professional football (“soccer”) team” put a smile on my face. As a Scotsman in Toronto and a newcomer to Canada there’s a lot Canadianism or Americanism I have to grudgingly accept (or even adopt) but I will never use that S word. It’s called football, so bonus points here. The song ain’t bad either, pretty much more of that root hardcore rock n’ roll sound and some nice guitar work to boot.

Elsewhere “Dangerous Fumes” is quite the intoxicating blast. I like to imagine this track being used as part of the work-out material at an ‘aerobic kickboxing’ class – (or whatever it is that all those healthy-looking people in sportswear do in those mirror-filled places known as gym) – the stanza of “breathe in, breathe out” being well-suited to command minions of humans in their hamster-wheels.

Humans in hamster-wheels? Hmm. On that note let’s just cut to the chase – if you bought The Chemistry of Common Life and have been in the market for more Fucked Up tunes then this is your essential go-to record to. And if you’re yet to discover this band then this album serves as a great starting point, because everyone needs to get a little Fucked Up.

© Brian Banks

Review, photos and setlist by Music Vice editor Brian Banks

Gig/Concert: Dinosaur Jr. with Lou Barlow and MV & EE (and surprise appearance by Damian Abraham)
Venue: Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, ON, Canada
Date: 21 January, 2010
Headliners: Dinosaur Jr.
In one word: Colossal

According to the Dashboard on my slightly off-white wee MacBook, the temperature today in Toronto is -2 C, but the sun is shining and it’s all rather pleasant. I just took a morning stroll down the ever-colourful Queen Street West and the equally technicolour Kensington Market, throwing smiles at a couple of hundred passing strangers while hearing a mix of fleeting sounds including the car horns from impatient taxi drivers, Macy Gray, Sonic Youth, drumming from a Jamaican busker, and the usual sirens of emergency vehicles; they’d all make a mad cut n’ paste mash-up if I wanted to take a creative leaf out of Brian Wilson’s book, or for a more current reference, tUnE-yArDs.

It’s my birthday today and right now I’m sitting in a library, which might not sound like fun times but I’m doing what I love: listening to music and reflecting on the good times had last night after seeing Dinosaur Jr. at the Phoenix.

Before Massachusetts’ finest took to the stage, there was an hour or so of music by the two support acts, Lou Barlow and MV & EE. The latter are a quartet, sans drummer, who served up a whole lot of spaced-out psychedelic wah-wah heavy guitar action. It sounded more like an acid-fueled slow jam than a proper set, but that is deliberate and exactly what MV & EE are all about. Definitely one for the space cadets.

“I hope you’re ready to be dripped on when my face gets melted off!” That was the warning from a girl leaning over me as I sat behind the barrier in the photo pit waiting for the main event. But of course I wasn’t sitting down by the time Dinosaur Jr. came on, though I have no doubts that the face-melting happened.

It’s really hard to talk about Dinosaur Jr. without rehashing the obvious puns, the most used and abused one being that Dino Jr. are no longer ‘extinct’, having reformed a few years ago with the original line-up of J Mascis, Lou Barlow and Murph. The bald drummer Murph was missing tonight but the man who took his place on the stool did a fantastic job filling in – props to you sir, whoever you are.

In musical terms Dinosaur Jr. are a band that can be genuinely referred to as pioneers. They became a big influence to so many of the best alternative rock and grunge music that the ‘90s. If we were to draw parallels to prehistoric time periods, Dinosaur Jr. could be considered as not so much as having invented the wheels of rock n’ roll, but for helping remold them to provide a defining sound of an era.

Tonight Dinosaur Jr. were roaring at full force, with the wall of amplifiers providing that distinctly sludgy sound, while at his feet J Mascis has a pedalboard with enough buttons and knobs that it might even make Tom Morello jealous. That pedalboard became a box of tricks that Mascis relied on throughout the night for his solos – I’m not a fan of guitar wankery when its done the super-technical yawn-inducing DragonForce way (or DragonFarce, as I so maturely deemed them a while back), but Dinor Jr are far removed from the genres of super-technical metal and instead  Mascis’ provides the kind of tripped-out solos that inspire happy little zone-outs.

Dinosaur Jr. played a great selection of old and new material, with the highlight for me being the middle of the set which featured great renditions of “I’m Over It” (from 2009′s Farm) and then “Feel The Pain” (Without A Sound, 1994). Well, that was until the final song of the night… it’d had just passed midnight as Damian Abraham of Fucked Up came on stage to provide the vocals for “Chunks”. Given that this happened just seconds into the start of my birthday, I was extra lucky to see two awesome artists join forces for one of those memorable “I was there” gig moments. Freaking mega. And they couldn’t have picked a more suitable Dinosaur Jr. track for Abraham to cameo on, what with the angry Rollins-style vocal structure of the song.

A great night. Long may Dinosaur Jr. continue to roam – sure they’re getting on a bit, but don’t be deceived by J Mascis’s wizardry white hair, they’re still in their early 40′s and have a bit to go yet before they become rock n’ roll fossils like the Rolling Stones. (Albeit perhaps not capable of doing skate tricks anymore, as seen last year with the video for “Over It” which has a few dubious moments where stunt doubles were surely used – but a fun video all the same.)

Oh, and personally speaking, if Abraham’s appearance at the tail-end of this gig was the icing on my musical birthday cake, then the cherry on top just arrived in my inbox this afternoon with an advanced copy of Fucked Up’s latest record Couple Tracks. Woot.

© Brian Banks

Photos of Dinosaur Jr. at Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto, 21 January 2010

Dinosaur Jr. setlist

Review and photos by Music Vice editor Brian Banks

Gig/Concert: Fucked Up Weekend
Venue: Sneaky Dee’s and The Kathedral, Toronto, ON, Canada
Date: 29-31 October, 2009
Headliners: Fucked Up, Cro-Mags
In one word: Debauchery

There was extra attention for this year’s Fucked Up Weekend in Toronto after Fucked Up scooped the Polaris Prize in September. A slew of bands came to town again for this yearly event with three nights of hardcore, thrash and rock ‘n roll antics – although anyone expecting to see fellow Polaris nominees Metric would’ve been disappointed, but a nice tongue-in-cheek gag to have their name included on the flyer.

The weekend kicked off proper on Thursday, October 29, at Sneaky Dee’s. I arrived at Sneaky’s about half an hour before the first band came on and the initial turn-out was low, but the venue eventually filling up as the night wore on. This gig never really got going properly for me – I won’t mention names because I just wasn’t into it. I spent my evening making small-talk with strangers, including a 50-something Scottish expat called Pat.

Thursday night wasn’t a complete dud though as one of the earlier bands grabbed my attention. I’d been sat at the back of Sneaky’s supping on beer when France Has The Bomb came on, and by their second song I’d chugged my beer, leapt off my barstool and made my way to the front. I was pulled in by the swaggering cool bassline and dirty garage grime of “Grim Dagger”.

“France Has The Bomb is the bomb.”

Swaggering is an apt descriptor for France Has The Bomb. At the front of the noise, rich in garage and post-punk flavours, was Srini Radhakrishna, who was backed by another Asian sensation on guitar and the band’s line-up is complete by an all-white rhythm section. I was gripped for the entire set of France Has The Bomb. Check them out, they have some 7-inches available on Dusty Medical. Seriously, France Has The Bomb is the bomb.

Friday night, and I arrive hopelessly late at The Kathedral where Fucked Up were headlining. Some slackness on my part had led me to leaving it too late to get tickets, and I knew that it was bound to be a sell-out. Nevertheless, I figured I’d try my luck at the door, and I arrived, camera in hand and made my best attempt of pulling off a Derren Brown style mind-melt and just walk inside past the security, but it wasn’t happening. Access denied. Damn. I mean, seriously, don’t you know who I think I am?

Anyway, not to worry, I’d end up catching Fucked Up at the end of the weekend.

I spent my Friday night a few blocks down Queen Street at The Hideout. With some great company, good music, and a few crazy Halloween costumes – hat’s off to the Mad Hatter – good times were had. Local boys You Handsome Devil played a mix of their own stuff and a bunch of rad covers including faves by the Ramones, The Misfits and The Dead Kennedys. I danced and pogoed the night away, scoring some free JD shots and a t-shirt along the way, then sprawled onto Queen St with an Italian belle as my partner-in-crime who I’d discovered shared my love for Wayne’s World references. Together we sung “I’ve got five-thousand dollars” to anyone who cared. I eventually found my way home at 5am. Fucked Up Weekend was now in full flow.

After waking up at Insane O’Clock on Saturday morning for a hangover-quelling breakfast and to seek out a Halloween costume, day become night before I knew it and I found myself in the convenient locale of a house party just a block from the intersection of College and Bathurst. Sneaky Dee’s was so temptingly close, and eventually at the best time possible my itchy-feet led me to bail on this party.

There were no issues getting inside Sneaky’s – the placed was rammed but luckily enough there was still room for a few more. Adorned in some kind of suicidal priest get-up, I was asked to remove the fully-functional rope noose from around my neck before going upstairs – I gladly obliged, but then put it back on as soon as I was in the pit. I kept the rope on for the rest of the night, with a Deadly Little Miho holding the other end as I bounced around inside Sneaky’s like a true freak on a leash, while trying my best not to trip or strangle any fellow patrons.

Fucked Up took to the stage and it was a maelstrom of hot ‘n sweaty rock ‘n roll bliss from the offset. Damian Abraham was the leading man and the catalyst for the tapped chaos that ensued for the duration of Fucked Up’s set.

Fucked Up played a set which largely comprised of material from 2008′s The Chemistry of Common Life, with “Crooked Head” being one of the best songs of the night.

“Damian Abraham was the catalyst for the tapped chaos that ensued.”

The intensity of this show reached levels of mammoth proportions, instigated by the hairy behemoth of a figure that Abraham’s cuts, a veritable ringmaster of proceedings. Rock shows rarely reach this level of intensity, but Fucked Up delivered the kind of performance that the baiting Halloween crowd of ghouls, drags and hags had been lusting for. The pit was a melee of plastic fangs, fake blood, and a whole lot of sweat and spilt beer. It was exhilarating.

An awesome night. I rank Fucked Up highly, and I’d place them somewhere close behind The Bronx as being among the best hardcore punk rock bands of this decade.

My own personal Fucked Up weekend would roll on for another day or so before eventually all the debauchery came to an end and the post-weekend hangover set in, quickly followed by almost a week of self-imposed quarantine after picking up the flu and a fever. That was my Fucked Up Weekend – I hope your Halloween was equally as legendary!

© Brian Banks

Photos of Fucked Up at Sneaky Dee’s, October 31, 2009

Links:

France Has The Bomb – MySpace
Fucked Up – Official Blog