Fucked Up - Dose Your Dreams (2018)
Canadian hardcore punk outfit Fucked Up is back with their first new full length since 2014. The group has been known for their art rock output as of late, concept EPs they put out years following the Chinese Zodiac. The band is known for disliking each other, sometimes to the point of physical altercations. It is likely a side effect from both the front man and one of the guitarists being songwriters and lyricists, resulting in butting heads. But the result is hard to argue with, Fucked Up has been adored by critics since they came on the scene.
This album sees one of those two songwriters, lead vocalist Damian Abraham, take a back seat. His vocals don't even appear in ever song on this album. Instead, the whole group does leads at various points throughout the record. It's much more experimental and broad in its genre, employing a lot of pop influences. This results in an album that some how continues the art rock sound they had been cultivating and challenging the listener, while at the same time being very poppy. With a mammoth 18 tracks, the album gives the band plenty of room to explore this new space they find themselves in.
Like the past couple Fucked Up albums, it's also concept. It has a story and follows a main character in rock opera-like fashion. Their anti-capitalist message comes through in the magical reality of the story of a factory worker that is shown the drudgery of modern life by a sorceress.
It's ambitious, fun and at the end of day, still very much punk. Super enjoyable, in my opinion. A good introduction to the band if you've never heard them, though you may find their past work a little more one dimensional.
Fucked Up is an amazing outfit. David Comes to Life is one of my favorite albums as a fan of punk and hardcore but also of music that sounds really good. Their sound has all the intensity and emotion that great hardcore should have but not at the expense of musicality.
My frustration with punk bands that eventually get really good at their instruments and songwriting is that they stop writing punk albums. Biggest that comes to mind is Wire. Their album pink flag is amazing just like Fucked Up but their later efforts aren't very punk at all. Fucked Up hasn't done this.
Also an amazing live set.
David Comes to Life is definitely god-tier hardcore. But I love every full length album they've put out.
I can also see it just getting boring for punk rockers to keep playing four power chord progressions over and over again. Even if they have talent from the start, punk is such a simple genre that I can see getting bored with it even aside from talenting out of it. I think part of Fucked Up's transformation has been partially their desire to indulge so many different influences. Dose Your Dreams has some power-pop, ambient psychedelic and 90s grunge sound sprinkled through with some Beach Boys type harmonies. They have just the right level of influenced by to still keep it cohesive as the sound of Fucked Up, but at the same time vary the sound and do some new things.