#BESTTHINGS2011 // FUCKED UP - David Comes To Life  (Matador Records)

When Fucked Up announced they were working on a narrative-based rock opera last year, to say I was feeling trepidation about the project is to put it lightly. A hardcore band releasing an 18 song, 78-minute rock opera? The statistical possibilities for failure are almost overwhelming. But counting the ways in which David Comes To Life could have gone horribly wrong only adds emphasis to just how exactly right this album turned out. Over the course of its 18 tracks, David tells the simple story of young punk love and loss. It’s a compelling enough narrative but the real tale here are the songs themsleves, the vehicles used to tell the story and the driving force behind this album. From the opening instrumental “Let Her Rest” to album closer “Lights Go Up,” the album is intense, at points brutal and almost always essential. Yeah, it’s long but there’s not a bum track in the mix. To say David Comes To Life is the highpoint of Fucked Up’s career isn’t just hyperbole, either, the numbers add up. The songwriting is as sharp and spot-on as their now classic Hidden World LP (Jade Tree, 2006) and sonically, David is as impressive as their guitar-wash epic The Chemistry Of Common Life (Matador, 2008).

And for the squares out there still complaining about vocalist Damian Abraham’s growl - get over it. Abraham’s bark has never sounded better or more appropriate than it does on this record. Even though the size and scope of their songs has changed over the years, Fucked Up is still by and large a hardcore band. And Abraham is still, as he has always been, a hardcore frontman. And once you give into that, there really is no other way to have it.

Fucked Up - “The Other Shoe” from David Comes To Life  http://www.matadorrecords.com/mpeg/fucked_up/fucked_up_the_other_shoe.mp3

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#BESTTHINGS2011 is a series focusing on the “best things” released in 2011. Bucking arbitrary numerical distinction, these postings will appear in no particular order with no particular concern for whether they are original releases or reissues from this year. I’m hoping to post one a day for the remainder of the calendar year or until I run out of best things to write about. Not sure which will come first.