June 1, 2011

Album Review: Fucked Up - 'David Comes To Life'
Fucked Up Tickets

A theatrical evolution, not for the faint hearted

8 / 10 Nothing lasts forever. And while hardcore aficionados will strive for redemption through Fucked Up’s operatic third full-length, they’ll quickly learn that while this offering maintains the group’s bilious urgency, the Torontonian outfit are not the musicians we met back in 2008. Behold their evolution: while 2008’s ‘The Chemistry Of Common Life’ album was drenched in religious connotations and spiritual euphemisms, this time, their rock opera about romance and death at an English lightbulb factory (seriously) is theatrics personified, taking listeners on a quest while still abiding by their precious DIY ethic.

Thanks to ‘The Other Shoe’ and ‘The Recursive Girl’, no longer can we throw the usual old adjectives at Fucked Up and declare them just another testimony to punk rock’s penchant for rapture; their diverse, dimensional and multi-layered tale of love lost, found and endured reflects a band defined by tumultuous relations and the evolution of their fanbase. We dare you to hold them back.

Anne T Donahue

Order a copy of Fucked Up's 'David Comes To Life' from Amazon