September 23, 2009 4:08

Fucked Up win Canadian version of the Mercury Prize

Band crowned Polaris Prize winners and scoop $20,000 prize

Fucked Up have won the Canadian equivalent of the Mercury Prize for the best Canadian album of the year with their album 'The Chemistry Of Common Life'.

Called the Polaris Prize, the jury led contest featured ten finalists including the like of Metric, Great Lake Swimmers and Patrick Watson, with the punk band bagging the $20,000 prize and coveted title.

"Until this year, we in Fucked Up have never felt part of the Canadian 'music community'; we've never really toured Canada, never received any sort of grant money," said Damian 'Pink Eyes' Abraham to Torontoist.

"Being nominated for the Polaris Prize is one of the most exciting things to have happened to our band, not only because of the prestige of the award but because it was something that until this year would have felt so far out of the realm of possibility."

As previously reported Fucked Up announced news of a singles compilation, which is slated for an early 2010 release.

Called 'Couple Tracks: Singles 2001 – 2009', the collection will be released as both a double LP and double CD.

The winner of 2009’s Mercury Prize in the UK was Speech Debelle for her debut album 'Speech Therapy'.