If It's Too Loud...

Photo by Jeaninne Kaufer So far the singles for Fucked Up's upcoming record have been more musically art rock with lead singer Damian Abraham's vocals continuing to be hardcore, but on "Cicada" guitarist Mike Haliechuk takes over vocals and the musical style shifts. Musically, "Cicada" is the most punk song we've heard on the album. It's not quite hardcore, but it's more along the lines of The Replacements or Guided By Voices. Fucked Up keep an edge to this song, which ends up being one of the better versions of melodic punk that we've heard in some time. Mike Haliechuk says of the new song: “‘Cicada’ is about what life is like after you lose people, and our responsibility to carry them forward into the future, using the things they taught us as a light. I like to imagine the sound of cicadas as a metaphor for our strange life in the subculture—we all just live these weird little hidden lives under the dirt, and then once in a generation, one...

Photo by Jeannine Kaufer Fucked Up's upcoming album (the one written and recorded in a twenty four hour period) is quickly becoming one of the most anticipated releases of 2023. The latest single, "I Think I Might Be Weird," shows off what might become the album's sound: It's a more straightforward rock song that may even lean into pop a bit, except for singer Damian Abraham's vocals which are just pure hardcore. This should not work at all, but somehow the abrasiveness of the song fit perfectly with the melodies. There are even vocal harmonies going along in complete opposition to Abraham's vocals. "I Think I Might Be Weird" is this crazy blend of mid 90's mainstream alt-rock mixed with hardcore mixed with modern indie pop, and it's glorious. Damian Abraham talks about his songwriting process for One Day : “It almost felt like it might be the last time I’d ever get to record vocals for anything. What do I want to say to friends who aren’...

Photo by Jeaninne Kaufer Only a band like Fucked Up could write and record a full album in twenty four hours and have it actually be this good and polished. Of course, polished is subjective. Their latest single, "Found," is this glorious mix of straight up alt-rock, indie rock, punk, and hardcore. Damian Abraham's vocals are always going to be gruff, but a lot of the rest of "Found" is surprisingly melodic. There are some killer vocal harmonies on the outro of the song, and the guitars almost have a Mission of Burma goes prog rock thing going. The gang vocals are more melodic than you would expect, and harmonizing with Abraham's growl can't be easy. Guitarist and songwriter Mike Haliechuk says of the new song: "I used to live on Davenport Road, which is one of the oldest streets in North America, and has been a First Nations trail for thousands of years, running along the north shore of Lake Iroquois, which receded after the last ice age. Just to t...

Photo by Jeannine Kaufer  Of course I was aware of Fucked Up, but I don't think I ever started listening to them until I started listening to singer Damian Abraham's podcast "Turned Out a Punk." Whenever his band got brought up they just sounded intriguing to me, and I've been a fan ever since.  What intrigued me about Fucked Up were things like one album being just one song and the fact that they once played a twelve hour show. That level of experimentation continues with their new album which saw them writing and recording an entire album in one day. The first single from that album, "One Day," is far more melodic than you would expect from Fucked Up. Musically it's reminding me a lot of a band like The Beths. It's an upbeat, fairly poppy indie rock song with fun little harmonies. That is, except for Abraham's lead vocals which are still that of a hardcore frontman. "One Day" should not work at all, but that's what makes Fucke...