A Book By Its Cover

The Chemistry of Common Life
Fucked Up
Matador, 2008
4.5 stars

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Nope, it's a post-hardcore record with punk, traditional rock, shoegaze, classical and experimental elements. Seriously, this album bends all of the rules. Lead singer Pink Eyes sounds like he's been gargling razorblades, but far from being harsh or overly 'tough'-sounding (I don't know - how else do you describe hardcore music?) his screamed rants compliment the band's meticulously layered electric/acoustic guitars and rapid-fire percussion perfectly, creating a thoroughly-listenable, blatantly intelligent, fist-pumping wall of sound. With a band name like Fucked Up these guys clearly aren't chasing commercial success, though behind the 'hardcore' rep, the growls and the heavy guitars lie some genuinely catchy songs. Don't judge this book by its cover.

Artwork: A
Far from the post-hippy artwork of their last LP Hidden World, Common Life takes a more straight-forward approach, with neat photography and some tidy serif type. It's simple, but it doesn't need to be anything else - the record itself does the shouting.

Published in mX, Thursday December 4, 2008.