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MUSIC
TFucked Up
Glass Boys
Matador, LP or CD
he post-hardcore noisemakers in Toronto’s
Fucked Up surely never envisioned they’d
stick around long enough to flirt with rockband
middle age when they first adopted
their moniker back in 2001. Yet somehow,
the group, which was once defined by the
seemingly self-destructive onstage presence
of Damian “Pink Eyes” Abraham—its burly,
bearded growler of a frontman—has not
only survived, but thrived, releasing a
string of increasingly ambitious albums that
culminated in the sprawling punk-opera
David Comes To Life, an 18-suite, 77-minute
epic about factory bombings and doomed
romances.
While Fucked Up’s music is
constantly searching and probing,
forever stretching out into
new sonic frontiers, its members
have gradually transitioned from
restless punks into responsible
adults. Even Abraham has
settled, becoming a family man
and father plagued by the types
of questions that arise among
many as they move into their
mid-to-late 30s: Have I made
the most of my time here Does
what I do make a difference
Would the teenage me approve
of the life I’m living now
These are the challenges
the band grapples with on Glass
Boys, its fourth full-length and
likely the most accessible album
in its increasingly diverse
catalog. Opener “Echo Boomer”
sets the tone, with Abraham envisioning
himself as a teenager
enamored with the possibilities
of a career in music. Rather
than celebrating the successes
he’s experienced on this chosen
path, however, Abraham,
along with guitarist/co-writer
Mike Haliechuk (the two split
songwriting duties, yet everything
here sounds of a piece),
spends the remainder of the
album struggling with confusion,
fear, and doubt, wondering if
the so-called compromises the
band has made along the way
(signing to a giant indie, appearing
on network television shows,
opening for the Foo Fighters,
etc.) somehow tainted the youthful
idealism once represented by
the music. (continued)
58 TONE AUDIO NO.64
July 2014 59