“Pretty melodies don’t fall out of the air for me. I’ve got to steal them from somewhere.”
Titus Andronicus is one of the punkiest punk bands I like. In their early work, they make high-pitched unhinged nasty racket with scratchy bar chords and a scratchy-voiced skinny man yelling into a scratchy microphone. I don’t usually dig punk, but this band distinguishes themselves with an element you don’t get in 99 percent of punk music…
Good songs! Haha! Oh, I’m just kidding you, you angry punk you. It’s not just good songs per se, but there’s a particular flavor to this band’s songs. Most every Titus Andronicus song has a catchy melody that sounds distinctly childlike and innocent. It’s usually by way of a lead guitar but sometimes via cutesy keyboards from the bottom of the mix. Not sure exactly why they remind me of childhood or how they’re so damn catchy, but they do and they are.
They’re basically the opposite of the other not-quite-punk bands I like. See, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with punk’s common musical structure: fast, simple chords over fast, simple beats, put into short songs with few parts, just long enough for pissed-off singers to make pissed-off statements before their cheap beer gets warm.
What usually turns me off is the junky sound, junky performance, and junky attitude emanating from the junky singers. But with Titus Andronicus, it’s flipped. Without that junky sound, they’d probably come off as painfully sincere, sensitive crap without any edge. But with the junky sound, it’s a sneaky unique mix. Uplifting, anthem-like melodies buried under a layer of cigarette ash and body odor.
I’m only talking about the first two albums here, though, because the band went in a slightly different direction and turned me off after all. And that’s cool, but I don’t like to use too many of my words badmouthing music just because I don’t personally have a taste for it. Let’s just focus on those first two albums, which get my full recommendation.
The Airing of Grievances
2008
8 out of 10
I just basically described the sound, mostly upper-mid-tempo punk with some cute melodies and a very scratchy-voiced vocalist. It’s funny how he manages to cram more than a few words into small spaces. Occasionally there are these jarring, kinda sloppy stops, and he’s filling them with totally anguished yells, but he’s got seven words to say where most punk vocalists would fit in just one or two. See, he’s not just an angry skinny man. He’s an ARTICULATE angry skinny man.
What I like about these songs is that those cherry melodies seem to appear out of thin air. The songs are just rolling along in their stinky punky way, then suddenly the cute stuff introduces itself and freshens up the whole vibe. Give it a listen.
The Monitor
2010
7 out of 10
On the last album, those nice melodies appeared from thin air during otherwise rough-sounding punk songs. On this one, the songs are completely driven by those nice melodies. And what nice melodies they are! And the performance is more solid; the sound is slightly more full.
So why don’t I prefer this one? It’s maybe just a bit too much. Over the first four songs or so, I’m hooked, moving and grooving along. Sweet but powerful tunes. After a while, I’m ready for something different, but this band just keeps on keeping on. They just adore their little melodies and squeeze all the juice out of them until there’s nothing left.
If I had to pick just one Titus Andronicus song as my favorite, it’d be something off this album. If I want to listen to a full album all the way through, I’m going with the first one.
Published October 2021