Album Review: Fucked Up - Glass Boys

Toronto sextet Fucked Up's long-awaited fourth long-player, Glass Boys, begins with a delicate prelude at the start of Echo Boomer and concludes with the beautifully lulling piano that trails from the closing title track, but the journey between those quiet extremities is anything but sedate. Whereas their last effort – the sprawling double album David Comes To Life (2011) – allowed them to stretch far beyond their hardcore roots, this ten-track follow-up is far more succinct and condensed and as a result delivers a hefty punch.

Their trademark innovative arrangements and ambitious structures remain intact and the triple-axe attack gives plenty of musical grunt, but Glass Boys is dominated by the growling, scabrous worldview of frontman Damien Abraham. The band's hard-earned success of late – awards, magazine covers, high profile supports – while seemingly earned without compromise, has nonetheless brought on the hardcore equivalent of an existential crisis, whereby Abraham struggles to reconcile his relative success against that of the underground bands that he grew up revering (“We traded our moral high ground so they'd sing along/But is it so bad? Is it as dark as it seems?/To trade a little purity to prolong the dream?” – The Art Of The Patrons).

Tellingly, tracks like Sun Glass, the punchy Paper The House and the epic Led By Hand (featuring J Mascis) showcase just why Fucked Up have so effortlessly crossed over, marrying uncontrived aggression with innate melody and thought-provoking narratives. Long may the dilemma continue.