11 minute single? That’ll be Fucked Up, then
Not being surprised doesn’t always mean not being awed. Fucked Up aren’t shy of their single opuses, as some will no-doubt be aware: their most recent was last year’s ‘Year of the Pig’. That ol’ chesnut of cyclical Chinese years is reinstated for the follow-up to ‘The Chemistry of Common Life’, as is the ambitious sprawl of that previous epic.
Fucked Up seem to have an innate ability to time their build-ups perfectly, which means that – even at 11 minutes – Year of the Rat feels like a fleeting pleasure. Guitars drone like delayed sirens, Pink Eyes preaches from the underground pulpit ‘Watch my back and bare my teeth / I’ll kill you to get the things I need’ with utter vitality in a tirade on the struggle for existence that’s still enlivened, anthemic and all-too well refined to be called Punk.
There’s one last blitz as the song rolls to its finale with growling vocals and that underlying, simple riff. Intriguingly it all ends with a recording of John McCain quoting ex-Secretary of State George Schultz on disciplining Pakistan, during a face-off last year with Barack Obama: ‘If you’re going to aim a gun at somebody, you’d better be prepared to pull the trigger’. It’s a reminder of the Arizona senator’s flawed but noteworthy challenge for the Presidency, and also a reminder of the long-held belief that the Democratic party are soft on war. To these ears, Fucked Up aren’t afraid of confrontation and they’d expect no less from the new President. God bless Canada.
Record Label: What’s Your Rupture?
Release Date: March 24th 2009
Fucked Up: 9/10
