Fucked Up
Words by Dan Jude
Canadian hardcore punk fivesome Fucked Up really don’t bullshit. They are, unquestionably, fucked up. Let’s start with their stage names. Pink Eyes, Concentration Camp, 10,000 Marbles, Mustard Gas and Mr. Jo. Just the sort of chaps you’d like to invite round for dinner. Then there’s their behaviour. Seldom do Fucked Up get through a gig without blood being spilled. Theirs, the audience’s, a bat’s, it’s all academic really. At a recent gig their rendition of Generation caused a mosh-pit so colossal and violent that several fans were hospitalised with broken limbs and cracked skulls. NOFX eat your hearts out. Not literally. That’s the sort of thing Fucked Up would do.
To look at them standing still is terrifying enough. Lead singer Pink Eyes is a 24-stone beast of a man with a penchant for self-destruction, mutilation and a total disregard for authority. Bald scalp, maniacal eyes, and more often than not blood oozing from somewhere or another, he’s the sort of guy you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley. Or a light one. Or a crowded room full of security guards.
So what about the music? To say the least, Fucked Up don’t make it easy for themselves, and have been notoriously steadfast in their commitment to shun the mainstream. In 2003 they released a single song spread over 2 sides, essentially rendering it unlistenable, then a year later they released ‘Looking For Gold’, a 17-minute horror of a single that featured a four-minute drum solo. Their unwillingness to join Myspace has further cemented their position as a band unwilling to bend over and let the commerial world anally penetrate them. So why did they choose to disregard this seemingly crucial platform? ‘We were like ‘We don’t have to do anything’’, according to Pink Eyes. ‘We kind of avoided it. Part of it was just being pig-headed, probably to our own detriment.’
Never ones to shy away from controversy, Fucked Up have undoubtedly amassed more haters than lovers, not that they give a shit. ‘You want people to think it’s not just another band. People can hate your band or people can love your band. You just don’t want them to be able to ignore your band.’ With a host of songs pertaining to Nazism, fascism, self-harm and suicide, it’s fair to say they aren’t going to be everyone’s cup of hardcore punk tea. But love them or hate them, it’s bloody hard to ignore them. Not that you’d want to. They’d probably kick your head in.
http://www.matadorrecords.com/fucked_up/
Posted Thu, December 04, 2008
Comments on Fucked Up
HAHAHA just the sort of chaps you’d invite over for dinner
BEST
Posted by: Stalin | 26/04/2009 at 14:54