After a near-three year silence Patrick Stickles’ band of New Jersey outlaw punks Titus Andronicus return to make up for the mild disappointment of 2012’s ‘Local Business’ by way of a 29 song concept album about depression entitled ‘The Most Lamentable Tragedy’. Yes indeed.
Newly signed to one of the most respected indies in the world, Merge Records (co-owned by Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan and Lara Balance, home to Arcade Fire and Neutral Milk Hotel), Stickles and co. released the lyric video for lead track ‘Dime Out’ late last week, which has proven to be an immediate hit among those in search of a personal, politicised adrenaline rush of angst-fuelled, empowering power-punk.
See it here:
It’s as unflinchingly aggressive as the best of their early work whilst simultaneously being one of the most tuneful things they’ve ever committed to tape (tape?). The lyrics are at times threatening (“Now I turn a brave bully to a shy coward”) sometimes naively beautiful (“All the greatest artists they were amateurs”) but more often than not, frantically rousing and strangely joyful (“My challengers are just simple imbeciles”and “as long as there’s a law I’ll be a criminal” spring to mind).
Frankly it’s one of the finest anthems we’ve heard in recent times and as it races to its frantic conclusion you may wonder – do they really have 28 more of these fucking bad boys ready for the album’s July 28th release? We know that the album features the wonderful Owen Pallett on violin as well as covers of choice Pogues and Daniel Johnston tunes – which bodes very well indeed.
But for right now forget about triple vinyl concept albums and get swept up in a pure punk moment of glory.
