Keep It Clean

I don’t know a whole lot about Canadian hardcore band F*cked Up other than their last two records—The Chemistry of Common Life and David Comes to Life—have been widely hailed for their subject matter as well as their music.  However, in reading more about them, they are a band that has released a ton of material as well as collaborated with a wide number of artists, including Danko Jones, Nelly Furtado, the Circle Jerks, and many others.  To call their music hardcore punk (as referred on some websites) would be sort of false because they have diverged from that early path to a more experimental hardcore sound.

F*cked Up is not afraid to push boundaries with their music or album artwork, as they have had some legal troubles with a few of their records.  But within the records themselves there is a depth not always characteristic to punk and hardcore bands.  How many hardcore or punk bands have you heard sing about plants?  (Ok, maybe mushrooms, but I’m referring to other plants.)  F*cked Up likes to stretch boundaries, and nowhere is this more evident than on their first big success, The Chemistry of Common Life.

#189 – F*cked Up, The Chemistry of Common Life (Metascore = 85)

“Son the Father” opens with a short flute prelude before the guitars come churning in.  Soon lead singer Pink Eyes (aka Damian Abraham) comes pummeling in.  When I hear his voice, he reminds of the lead singer of Green Jelly on “Three Little Pigs” but singing far more intelligent lyrics (songs that involve Rambo at the end are campy at best).  When I listen to “Son the Father”, I feel like I’m hearing Adam’s tale (Adam from the Bible) of his bloodline, spoken in a way where he questions whether or not his descendants deserve a second chance.  It’s something different for sure.

Questioning and understanding faith is the underlying theme here.  Whether the band is ultimately successful or not (doubtful), through each song they ask questions and seek answers why people believe what they believe, what it means for them, etc.  Pink Eyes doesn’t try to be judgmental or arrogant about the questions; he’s just trying to understand the meaning of life and death.  Some of his musings are done under the influence, perhaps needing that hallucinogenic push to better understand.

Whatever the outcome, this is a lyrically dense record.  One would think based on their band name alone or sound that lyrics would take a back seat to the overall edge they portray.  You would be wrong, as this grafting together of intelligent lyrics with a sometimes hard, more times melodic sound make a very intriguing record.  The critical reviews of this record tended to focus on the edginess of the band while casually mentioning the lyrics.  The lyrics make this record more than the sound, in my opinion.  This was an interesting listen.