It seems that Fucked Up's primary purpose in their massive pile of releases has been to push boundaries. Thus their name. Doing away with any preconceived notions of what a hardcore album by a volatile live act should be, their second Matador release, The Chemistry of Common Life, is a lush, expansive masterpiece that dismisses the theory that punkers have to follow a concrete formula of short and fast songs with raw-edged production. Here, tracks are layered meticulously by Mike Haliechuk -- the Kevin Shields/Billy Corgan sonic mastermind and guitarist of the group -- who teamed up with their usual producer, Jon Drew, to lay down nearly 70 tracks per song. Reportedly, the band recorded bare-boned versions before going on tour for a few months, and after writing a surplus of extra parts on the road, Haliechuk returned to add dozens of guitars to each song. This technique resulted in a massively thick shoegaze feel, with billowing washes of distortion waves crashing down behind Pink Eyes, who effortlessly, but violently delivers his patented Cookie Monster growl over top. It's a unique mash of styles, and iconoclastic as always. Of course, this shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who has followed their haphazard career. Year of the Pig poo-pooed directness by including a song that was 18 minutes long, a three-minute drum solo was featured in Looking for Gold, Baiting the Public spread a single song over two sides of a record, making it impossible to hear seamlessly, and Hidden World went the distinctly unpunk orchestral route by incorporating strings from Arcade Fire's Owen Pallett. From the opening piccolo solo, it's obvious that Chemistry of Common Life follows the same anti-formula.
I probably wasn’t the only one to give a half-hearted “meh” when they announced the Polaris Short-list and Fucked Up was included. I know tons of pundits were heaping praise on the TO hardcore outfit, but to me it seemed like a great way to stick another band with fuck in the name dead into Stephen Harper's gullet (and pump the scene in our nation's largest city). I had only heard a few son
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maybe its cause of the girl i hate right now, or my recent increase in the taking of mind altering substances, or something. either way this song sounds good. the rest of the album is sick too. fucked up is exactly what i need right now, musically i mean. they remind me that music is whatever you want it to be. it doesnt have to please everyone. quality of fans over quantity of fans... i dont k...
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[01-23-2009] I once saw Jose Gonzalez perform, and the audience sat in cross-legged silence as the troubadour covered The Knife, Kylie Minogue, and Joy Division. This Fucked Up show was the opposite of that Jose Gonzalez show. Singer Father Damien began the set wearing a gold baseball hat, jeans, and some kind of shirt. About three songs in, the imposing front man had stripped to his underwear,...
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Yow, found a coupla wicked tracks on Matador by this band called Fucked Up. I love how an obvious band name like that is inevitably used, and only by a group that can live up to the lofty promise of it. Yes. As my friend Apocalypse Dude points out, this is g-naRLy! A seriously tight post-rock rockin ass rock band who have been to punk school before their creativity overwhelmed the confines of a...
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Fucked Up (w/ Let's Wrestle, Geoffrey Oi!cutt) Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK (18 Nov 2008)I've been mightily impressed by Fucked Up's new full-length The Chemistry Of Common Life. A worthy follow-up to Hidden World, it keeps taking hardcore just where it should be heading: towards increasing ambition in songwriting, arrangement, melody, and nuance, yet with a sturdy backbone of three guitars...
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Despite their juvenile name, The Chemistry of Common Life proves that Fucked Up are much more than just an idiotic, nihilistic punk band who leave trails of destruction and wrecked studios in their wake.
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Here is what some critics have said of Fucked Up: "They are like nothing you've ever heard before and everything you one day hoped you would, too strong for the charts and too corrupting for MTV." - Music OMH "It might seem counterintuitive to call Chemistry a grower: From the first listen, it's both pummeling and riveting. " - Pitchfork "Here, they c...
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The Chemistry of Common Life maybe the kind of post-hardcore record Agnostic Front dreamed of making in 1988, but I don't know if it's necessarily the record Fucked Up dreamed about making in 2008. With its seemingly misplaced keyboard, bongos and synthesizers (that wouldn't be misplaced in an early 70's Genesis album) Fucked Up's attempt [...] No related posts.
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- MUSIC REVIEWSYou're in one of the most intense hardcore bands in the world, and you want to let everyone know you're going to slow down a little bit. You're Toronto's angry answer to socialized politics, releasing more 7-inches than you can keep track of. You probably don't know your bandmates' actual names. You're set to release what will soon be one of the most influential albums your ...
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Fucked Up's The Chemistry of Common Life should show up on a few year-end lists. Taking a break from marathons , the Torontonians stopped by Daytrotter and played stripped-down, underwater-psychededlic versions of three songs from said new one and one from Hidden World : Listen
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Whether they're having the likes of J. Mascis , Moby or Les Savy Fav 's Tim Harrington guest at their recent twelve hour gig in New York, or appearing on the (admittedly hidden-in-a-bag-of-free-gifts) cover of NME, Fucked Up certainly seem to be the hardcore band du jour.
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The Chemistry of Common Life. It's become an obsession. I really was at the point where I thought that listening to hardcore of any kind was over for me, that I can hear enough of it when I hang out with my brother two or three times a year. Fucked Up have changed that for me. Besides, they're so badass their guitarist was jailed "for punching a Toronto police officer who had stolen a ham sandw...
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Fucked Up (w/ Let's Wrestle, Geoffrey Oi!cutt) Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK (18 Nov 2008)I've been mightily impressed by Fucked Up's new full-length The Chemistry Of Common Life. A worthy follow-up to Hidden World, it keeps taking hardcore just where it should be heading: towards increasing ambition in songwriting, arrangement, melody, and nuance, yet with a sturdy backbone of three guitars...
More >
The gala to announce the winner of the 2009 Polaris Prize was held in Toronto last night. The jurors stuck to their trend of handing it out to an underdog as Toronto hardcore punk band Fucked Up took the prize home for their album Chemistry of Common Life. They join Patrick Watson, Caribou, and Final Fantasy as winners.Fucked Up (who did fairly well in our own reader poll) beat out the likes of
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Yow, found a coupla wicked tracks on Matador by this band called Fucked Up. I love how an obvious band name like that is inevitably used, and only by a group that can live up to the lofty promise of it. Yes. As my friend Apocalypse Dude points out, this is g-naRLy! A seriously tight post-rock rockin ass rock band who have been to punk school before their creativity overwhelmed the confines of a...
More >
Fucked Up is a band from Canada who play hard core. Now, if you are like me, you liked hard core music a whole lot once and then stopped listening to it when you were old enough to go to shows that weren't all-ages.What is it about hard core bands loving the youth? I mean, I went to a lot of youth shows involving hard core bands when I was young and I loved it, but even so, there didn't seem to...
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I probably wasn’t the only one to give a half-hearted “meh” when they announced the Polaris Short-list and Fucked Up was included. I know tons of pundits were heaping praise on the TO hardcore outfit, but to me it seemed like a great way to stick another band with fuck in the name dead into Stephen Harper's gullet (and pump the scene in our nation's largest city). I had only heard a few son
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FUCKED UP - The Chemistry of Common LifeThat is correct. As was said today on Quick Before It Melts, I can't wait to see the various ways the media tries to convey this message with out saying or writing the word, FUCKED. I have to admit, in the months leading up to last night's Polaris Prize Gala, I never even gave this Toronto band a fighting chance. In my mind, (as was made obvious in my pre..
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maybe its cause of the girl i hate right now, or my recent increase in the taking of mind altering substances, or something. either way this song sounds good. the rest of the album is sick too. fucked up is exactly what i need right now, musically i mean. they remind me that music is whatever you want it to be. it doesnt have to please everyone. quality of fans over quantity of fans... i dont k...
More >
Here is what some critics have said of Fucked Up: "They are like nothing you've ever heard before and everything you one day hoped you would, too strong for the charts and too corrupting for MTV." - Music OMH "It might seem counterintuitive to call Chemistry a grower: From the first listen, it's both pummeling and riveting. " - Pitchfork "Here, they c...
More >
Ahead of their upcoming 12-hour NYC show , Toronto's Fucked Up played a very short set -- The Chemistry Of Common Life shout-along "Twice Born " -- in MTV Live's bathroom. They rip the place apart, spray painting the walls, removing ceiling tiles, doing something untoward to a motorcycle, etc. It kinda feels like MTV wanted this to happen (well, except when the camera goes to black for a few se...
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"Year Of The Rat", the hardest, fastest, most vicious eleven minutes of your life, serves as the third installment from Fucked Up's quest to chart the Chinese Zodiac calendar. Backed with "First Born", a tale of coming fatherhood, serves as...
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Despite their juvenile name, The Chemistry of Common Life proves that Fucked Up are much more than just an idiotic, nihilistic punk band who leave trails of destruction and wrecked studios in their wake.
More >
Pitchfork is reporting that Pink Eyes and the rest of the Fucked Up crew have won the Polaris Music Prize and the $20,000 that comes with it. The band wasn’t expect a W, they were just happy about the free Ipod, and from what I’ve been reading it has apparently shocked a few around the web, as well. Did they not listen to The Chemistry of Common Life (the album they won for)? That record is li
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Son the Father |
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| 2 Magic Word |
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| 3 Golden Seal |
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| 4 Days of Last |
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| 5 Crooked Head |
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| 6 No Epiphany |
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| 7 Black Albino Bones |
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| 8 Royal Swan |
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| 9 Twice Born |
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| 10 Looking for God |
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| 11 The Chemistry of Common Life |
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 "The Chemistry of Common Life")
