Titus Andronicus – The Monitor
Last Friday morning, Brain, ZK and I drug our asses out of bed to pick up the Lagunitas Beer for our Saturday SXSW showcase. It was early, our heads were buzzing, and the last thing we wanted to do was work. And to make matters worse we didn’t have a car to pick up the booze, so we had to rent a big-ass, overpriced Uhaul. So we picked up the booze from the distributor and headed downtown to drop off the beer at our venue. On our way over to the venue Brain, ZK and I were yucking it up about our previous night and Brain says, “dood, I wish we would have caught Titus Andronicus last night.” No joke, 5 seconds later we pull up to a stop light and who do roll up next to? Boom! Titus Andronicus! We ended up talking to them for 3 seconds max, the light turned green, they went off to do cool things and we drove around austin in an oversized truck hauling 10 cases of beer. Yup, that’s it. That’s as cool as this SXSW Titus Andronicus story will get; however, it is a great segway for me to introduce you guys to their 2nd full length album, The Monitor.
Thank god for The Monitor! Not since State Champion’s Stale Champagne have I been stoked on an aggressive type of album this year. Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot of great album’s in 2010, but nothing brings it like this one. Early listens immediately remind me of Conor Oberst’s old hard rock project, Desaparecidos, but as you start to hear the complexities of the album you throw them in the same company of Arcade Fire. Charged by 6 minute plus screaming anthems, up and down tempos, loud-reverb guitars, rhythmic piano, and horn sections; this one doesn’t miss a beat. And aside from the bands ability to compose a great song they’re clearly delivering a message of “sacrifice”. The opening track, “A More Perfect Union” is a great indicator of just that, screaming “No, I never wanted to change the world/but I’m looking for a new New Jersey/because tramps like us/Baby, we were born to die.” Every track follows with the same theme and complex compositions, but the beauty of this album it feels like it is one continuous song compelling an awesome story. An up and down story but a straight forward direction. Give it a listen, I’m sure you’ll dig.
“A More Perfect Union”
“Richard II”
“Four Score and Seven”
So there’s that. Still kind of bummed we missed out on the SXSW Titus Andronicus experience but hopefully we can catch them as they head to San Francisco this Sunday. Just in case you cant make it to one of their shows, enjoy this video someone shot at SXSW this year.
-Keith
Buy The Monitor
