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Storming out of the rough end of New Jersey in the mid-2000's, Titus Andronicus delivered one of the most fully-formed debut albums of all time in the form of their debut album, 2008's “The Airing Of Grievances”. Lead by the incomparable Patrick Stickles, “The Airing Of Grievances” summed up everything that one needed to know about the band. Showcasing everything from their swooping, Springsteen-esque choruses, to their white-knuckle brand of driving punk rock and the eccentricities that mark them out as different from pretty much every other blue-collar punk band in the world, including songs called “Upon Viewing Brueghel's Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus”, and the album essentially opening with a crowd of people literally shouting “F*CK YOU” at God himself.
Almost immediately after the band's release it became one of the most critically acclaimed debut albums of the year, receiving glowing notices from places as varied as Punknews, the A.V Club, The Guardian and Pitchfork. Tours with everyone from The So So Glos to Lucero, to Ted Leo and the Pharmacists followed, and then the band did it again with their second album, 2010's The Monitor. A break-up record told through an extended metaphor of the American Civil War, the record was even more critically adored than their debut, was the first record of theirs to debut on a Billboard Chart and saw the band tour with The Pogues and Bright Eyes off the back of it. To this day, the band remain one of the most respected punk bands of their generation, for their astonishing live shows and records that routinely push the boundaries of what a punk record can be. For that, they come highly recommended.
Live reviews
Thursday 9th June. Tufnell Park Dome. Titus Andronicus. It’s a balmy June evening in Camden when Messrs Head, Ogilvy, Burgess (x2) and Birbeck hook up in the Spread Eagle.
Tonight promises to be a full on sonic assault on the senses and so it turns out. Titus Andronicus hail from Nu Joisey led by the irrepressible Patrick Stickles on lead vocals and guitar.
After 2010’s superb The Monitor, a wholly consistent album, they are back with their latest, The Most Lamentable Tragedy which in between the doodling, adlibs and sound effects is an impressive canon of songs.
After opening the set solo Stickles is joined by the rest of the band who are all rocking the bushy hair and beard ensemble looking like extras from a Game of Thrones episode set in downtown Seattle.
What follows is a lesson on how to perform punk rock at its best. The songs have the raw energy of punk but are lyrically intelligent, well-structured and above all played well. Stickles is an impressive but not showy guitarist and he is ably supported by the rest of the band.
The crowd are enthusiastic throughout with much dancing, jumping, pogoing and singing, all of which our motley crowd of middle aged rockers participated in to varying degrees.
Highlights too many to mention although props to ‘Dimed Out’ and ‘Fatal Flaw’ from the new album although set closers ‘A More Perfect Union’ and ‘The Battle of Hampton Roads’ notch the energy and noise up a level or three. Time for a quick encore of Blitzkrieg Bop and it’s all over in a breathless flash.
The eleven hour flight from Brazil the night before is a distant memory and these guys certainly blew any jet lag away, the perfect antidote.
Keep on mutha f*ckin punk rockin baby.
garyw66
After some consideration, the name Titus Andronicus does actually befit these New Jersey rockers. The Shakespearian play is famously twisty, bloody and violent and while Patrick Stickles’ band isn’t violent per se, they do have an aggression and a keen eye for a vibrant lyrical couplet or two that makes their live shows an exhilarating and communal experience. At their heart, Titus Andronicus are a punk rock band, but they display giddying ambition in their albums, as the US Civil War concept album The Monitor is testament to. However they’re as forward looking as they are in thrall to the past, with Stickles’ lyrics politically charged and unflinchingly honest in their outlook.
The scope and ambition of their albums means that seeing Titus Andronicus live is a rollercoaster of emotions as we’re carried along by Stickles’ passionate testifying, pumping fists to his lyrical mantras then smiling with joy at the same moments he does – this is a man who is delighted to be onstage living out his dreams. This makes it easy for us to sing along with him to the band’s Springsteen-meets-Fugazi blueprint, throatily hollering along to ‘A More Perfect Union’, the various parts of ‘No Future’ and the bring-the-house-down set closer that is the fantastic ‘Four Score and Seven’. By the end of the show, you’ll be bruised, battered, drenched in sweat...and have a surprisingly in-depth knowledge of Shakespeare, Camus and the Civil War. What more could you want?
AndyHannah
Taking your namesake from a Shakespeare play is risky strategy as before you even take to stage the audience will be expecting a performance of equal grandeur and critical acclaim. The New Jersey alt-rock outfit perhaps take their inspiration from the brutal nature of this character as their music seems to share an equally aggressive quality.
It is great in a live setting as the pace never has chance to drop as they run through material from all three albums as the punk undertones are ever present underneath. The instrumentals are large and the sense of promise even larger as you can imagine the group envisaging themselves in arenas playing to thousands. This rock sound also helps with the crowd gathered tonight as even if you don't know all the music you can still get involved with the clap-along stomping beats. Most of the room seem pretty clued up about the finale of 'To Old Friends And New' as the chorus is sang back loudly much to the delight of the band onstage who offer sincere words of gratitude before their final bow.
sean-ward
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