Posted on: December 25, 2009 Posted by: anfnewsacct Comments: 0

Are Fucked Up some of the same art-punk jerkoffs that steered the revolutionary punk message away to something more diffuse and easier to swallow (look up acts like The Talking Heads and Blondie for that)? Their previous exploits on vinyl (creating liner notes that are purposefully illegible and using random symbols) seem to point toward that, but what is actually on disc is something that is great, to say the least. The first track on “Hidden World” is “Crusades”, and while the first minute or so seems like something that is nebulous, the band soon enough goes into a crunchy punk sound that blends together the sounds of acts like The Sex Pistols and Raised Fist.

This album would work well on labels like TKO or BYO; there seems to be a streetpunk sound to Fucked Up that does not seem to have the same goofy style that a number of current streetpunk acts have. The band is able to cut strong track after strong track on “Hidden World”. For example, the band does not give listeners time to catch their breath after “Crusades” by sticking “David Comes To Live” soon after. The arrangements are not too terribly complicated, and the band seems to stick with the seventies sound (recalling acts like Menace more than anything). The vocals during “Hidden World” stay fairly close to what they started with at the beginning of the disc, which allows the band to try slight variations of their general sound as a band. What results is a disc that is cohesive, but is not bound to a specific formula or style for all 72 minutes of “Hidden World”.

The band is very technically proficient, with songs like “Carried Out To The Sea” reminiscent of The Dickies and The Stranglers. The slight shiuft in the band’s sound is shown during “Baiting The Public”, where the bass gets cranked up and the vocals are allowed to move over to something that blends together the “tough guy” hardcore of the nineties with GG Allin and Iggy pop. Fucked Up is much less strung-out and arty than certain sources (their Wikipedia, for example) would have listeners think. What the band does with “Hidden World” is create a punk album that is catchy throughout without selling out to “the man”. The disc is a fury from the beginning to the end, and I have no doubt that the move to Jade Tree will get Fucked Up a score more fans.

Top Tracks: David Comes To Life, Fate of Fates

Rating: 7.4/10

Fucked Up – Hidden World / 2006 Jade Tree / 13 Tracks / http://lookingforgold.blogspot.com / http://www.jadetree.com / Reviewed 19 August 2006

[JMcQ]

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