BEST NEW MUSIC: FUCKED UP - NORMAL PEOPLE

I am so fucking excited to finally be able to fucking write about Fucked Up for this motherfucking website. I fucking love to swear my stupid fucking ass off— it’s my favorite thing to fucking do— but my editors always try and tell me to “cut it the fuck out and get my fucking shit together.”

But there’s nothing they can fucking do on an assignment as fucking radical as this one. I basically am forced to swear considering the name of the band alone, and am more-or-less given carte fucking blanche to say whatever the fuck I want because of it. Fucking finally!

Fuck the censors. Fuck the haters.

This is a Fucked Up on BEST NEW FUCKING MUSIC and we are fucking pumped about it.

FUCKED UP - NORMAL PEOPLE

The band's new track “Normal People,” off their first full-length studio release in four years, premieres this week with a music video that perfectly captures the bands indie vs hardcore dichotomy. Not since Rites of Spring has a band so effortlessly blended indie-alternative with hardcore punk fucking rock and had it work so fucking perfectly. But I guess that’s what helped make Fucked Up so fucking special in the first place. They aren’t your shitty racist Uncle’s hardcore punk band. No, they’re for fucking all of us. No, they’ve got something halfway fucking decent to say and they don’t fucking care what you core snobs think about their guitars. Sure life is hard, but it’s definitely fucking worth living.

“Normal People” starts off like a 2018 re-imagination of Pulp’s “Common People” with guitarist Mike Haliechuk in sad clown make-up, sing-talking his way through a hook straight out of London 1998. That’s before frontman Damien Abraham pops onto the track and turns it into the kind of hardcore anthem that we more traditionally associate this awesome fucking band with.

At first you’re like, “This is fucked up, this isn’t Fucked Up.”
Then they’re like “Nah, got you bro. April Fools.”
Then you’re like “Never fucking change.”
Then they’re like “Weren’t planning on it.”
And then you’re like “I can tell.”
And then they’re finally like “Give us the last fucking word, okay? FUCK!”
And you don’t say anything as a sign of fucking respect.

While Fucked Up have always rode the line between Indie and Hardcore by letting Hardcore vocals take the forefront over jangly indie rock songs, they definitely up their game with this one. Maybe even tricking you for a fraction of a moment into believing that they weren’t about the scream anymore. Fuck that Noise. This is Fucked Up. Damien will fucking scream till his throat fucking collapses.

Fucked Up’s Dose Your Dreams Drops October 5th on Merge Records.  Buy it, stream it, fucking listen to it. 

From deep within the murky depths of the Los Angeles River emerged a creature: 50% raver, 50% comedian, 10% Robotcop. Kurt Kroeber doesn’t own a dog, operates Soundbleed (the world’s only dance party comedy talk show rave), and is down to party with you. Come up some time and say “Hey dude!” But definitely make sure to casually drop the secret Illuminati password.