For a band with a radical name, Toronto’s sprawling hardcore collective Fucked Up sure do make one hell of an old-fashioned racket. There was once this thing called an “album,” and a subgenre of this archaic method of presentation was the monolithic “rock opera.” David Comes to Life (Matador) represents, in many ways, the most punk thing Fucked Up could do right now, because what’s more ... Read More

Full disclosure: prior to watching British band Esben and the Witch play at Manhattan's Mercury Lounge last Saturday, I hadn't listened to their entire full-length album, Violet Cries. (It released on Matador in February.) This is shameful for 2 reasons: 1. Goth is in my blood; My black, brooding blood. When Esben first released the single "Marching Song" in late 2010 I listened to it for two days straight. This obsessive cycle was only ... Read More