Still the Year of Fucked Up

Canadian post-hardcore band Fucked Up has already had a busy year, putting out the most recent installment of the Zodiac Singles Series, Year of the Dragon in April, and now they’ve followed it up with an equally impressive full length, Glass Boys. Following 2012’s end-of-the-year-list topping rock opera David Comes to Life, Fucked Up had their own gigantic shoes to fill and they have more than lived up to the task. Vocalist Damian “Pink Eyes” Abraham’s agonized screaming matched with surprisingly beautiful instrumentals, Fucked Up isn’t necessarily the easiest sell to listeners not already well prepared for their take on punk, but for those who are ready- Glass Boys is sure to please.

Fans who have been keeping an eye on Glass Boys were treated a few months ago to a taste of what was to come when the band released “Sun Glass” as a single, and anyone who might have been worried that Fucked Up had peaked with David Comes to Life were quickly assured that was not the case. While songs like “The Art of Patrons” hint at a bit of a stylistic change in direction, with some more straight forward rock influenced back up vocals, the album’s title track closes out the record reminding listeners that Fucked Up is still the same band that can blow us away time and time again.

While Glass Boys may be (only very slightly) outshone by the epic that was Year of the Dragon, it is still an absolute success of an album. Fucked Up has a unique talent for making listeners feel the softest of emotions with the hardest of music, and this new record will be no exception, and we’d expect nothing less. Any question there might have been that things would start to go downhill for Fucked Up, that they might have flown too close to the sun with David Comes to Life has been dashed with Glass Boys, and there is no question whether or not the bad will continue to deliver.