Titus Andronicus - Local Business

Hi everybody, this is my first post so I'll take a second to introduce.  My name is Joshua, I live in Chicagoland working as a software development manager for a small, family owned private company that contracts with various Housing Authorities across the country. We primarily serve the extremely low income, disabled, elderly, veterans or families in disaster areas with housing assistance. I have a lovely little family; my wife and I have a 4.5 year old son and a dachshund. Raman and I go way back to our undergraduate days, back when he and I were the top two Weezer fans in the state of Alabama.  Raman invited me to the group a few weeks back and I'm delighted to be here.  To give you some indication of my musical tastes, my top five favorite bands of all time (in no particular order) are Queen, Devo, Pixies, Titus Andronicus and Ted Leo.

My first pick is from the band Titus Andronicus (who Raman tells me he's had a hard time getting into.)  As stated above, Titus Andronicus are one of my favorite bands of all time, so I'm going to have a tough time not sounding like a fan-boy, but here goes.  This one's for you, Raman.

"...and in such a weird world/it feels real wrong smiling."

For those of you unfamiliar (uninitiated?) with the punk/indie band Titus Andronicus, Local Business is their third album.  To fully appreciate this album I feel that it's important to give you a touch of context, so I'll back up a second: Titus Andronicus, named after the ultra-violent and relatively unknown Shakespeare play of the same name is fronted by the angry, verbose, and obviously tortured singer/songwriter/guitarist Patrick Stickles. At it's core, Titus Andronicus is a punk band, if not always in sound or song structure than in D.I.Y. work ethic and anti-establishment philosophy.  One could argue that the purpose of punk rock is to take society and its inhabitants to task for their shortcomings, as indeed Titus Andronicus are inclined to do,  taking up this flag with gusto.   Patrick Stickles' songs are heavy with self-deprecating humor, pathos, misanthropy, irreverence for "the system," self-reference and inside-jokes. One of my favorite aspects of his songwriting style is the speed at which he turns from lofty philosophical proclamations to crass, sarcastic, or scatological missives.  There's tons of pop culture and philosophy references, as well as shout-outs to friends and fellow bands.  Titus Andronicus songs also rarely have a chorus or needless guitar solos, which I appreciate immensely.  These are not radio friendly pop songs and you should probably not listen to them around your kids.

"...and even my own mother will tell you I am an asshole/but underneath it all there is an apathetic heart of gold."

Titus Andronicus' first album, The Airing of Grievances, is a fuzzed out, wall-of-noise fusion of shoegaze, lo-fi and punk rock; vocals as loud, angry and caustic as anything Black Francis or Kurt Cobain ever screamed into a microphone, and twice as heavy. It's title is also a reference to a classic Seinfeld episode.  On The Airing of Grievances, Titus Andronicus established their style early, singing/screaming songs on topics as wide ranging as their hometown in New Jersey (on "Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ"), the strange results of mixing heroin and a high school band field trip (on "Arms Against Atrophy"), art theory (on "Upon Viewing Bruegal's "Landscape With The Fall of Icarus"") and (the always popular) existential angst and disillusionment with ones' peers (on the album's closer "Albert Camus").  According to Google Music, I've listened to this album somewhere between 122 and 145 times (some songs more than others), which is the greatest number of times an album has been listened to out of my collection (and, because it's one of the few physical albums I still own, that's not including the number of times it's been blasted in the car). Basically between 2008 and 2009, it was the only album I listened to.  Dark. Heavy. Loud. Amazing.  

"...and in our basements we all look so bored/we've never seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

Their second album, the critically acclaimed The Monitor is arguably as perfectly ambitious and well crafted as any concept album ever recorded, and I'm not being hyperbolic.  A punk rock record simultaneously about The Civil War as well as escaping your black hole of a hometown (did I mention they're from New Jersey?), incorporating a hearty helping of Stickles' mixture of self-loathing and misanthropic bellyaching. Somewhere around 25 personnel were employed to do everything from play the fiddle to be the "research assistant" (whatever the hell that means on a rock and roll album), to acting out never existing lost recordings of Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis and Walt Whitman's more famous Civil War related quotes.  On paper, this album should have never been made, and since it was made it should have been an unmitigated disaster, but not only does it not fall flat on it's face it never falters (Not even once! Not even during the goddamn saxophone or bagpipe solos.) Laden with angsty self diagnosis, The Monitor channels the spirit of disgruntled American youth, focused through the lens of Bruce Springsteen and Billy Bragg worship. This album catapulted Titus Andronicus onto dozens of critics "Best Of" lists for 2010 and gained them a ridiculous amount of street cred amongst punk/historian social circles.  Where do you go from there?

"...and upon the pavement, for each and every particle of glass/there are a thousand dreams never to come to pass."

Local Business. On their third album, Titus Andronicus stripped the heavy production away and attempted to make as close to a live album as possible without recording it live; they are songs that should translate as much on record as they do if you were standing there in the front row (or from the side as far away from the mosh pit as possible, as I'm inclined to do). "Plug and Play" as the band described it.  On Local Business, Titus Andronicus have come as close as they've ever come to fully channeling Bruce Springsteen (by all accounts their spirit animal) if not in swagger than in bar-friendly raucousness and blue collar appeal.  

The album can quite easily be broken up into two sides (A and B).  Side A starts big with three songs ("Ecce Homo", "Still Life With Hot Deuce on Silver Platter", and "Upon Viewing Oregon's Landscape With The Flood of Detritus") that, when played back to back to back are as strong an opening to an album as one could hope. It continues with the utterly ridiculous (yet fun) "Food Fight" which provides an adequate segue into Side A's closer, "My Eating Disorder", which details Stickles' struggles with selective eating disorder. Admittedly, Side B is not as accessible or cohesive as A, but for every misstep, there's gems to be found as well.  Side B opens with the another slightly ridiculous number, "Titus Andronicus Vs. The Absurd Universe (3rd Round KO)", which, while entertaining, leaves something to be desired in the lyrical realm.  "In A Big City", the album's only single is also my least favorite.  Lyrically it's a decent enough song but musically it lacks a certain oomph.  My favorite two songs of Side B quickly follow, "In A Small Body" and "(I Am The) Electric Man"; a humorous bar song written after Stickles electrocuted himself.  The album closes with "Tried to Quit Smoking" which had the potential to be a solid closer but unfortunately just tends to patter off into the sunset.

Admittedly, Local Business is not my favorite Titus Andronicus album, but it is by no means a sub-par effort.  To me, this is an above average album by an absolutely powerful and relevant band.   Those are my two cents, so give Local Business a listen and tell me what you think.  I'm willing to bet there's at least one of you out there that will find their style of rock and roll intriguing.  For me and my money though, Local Business is a little bit of a top heavy album, but still excellent and continues to give after multiple listens.  I give it 4/5 stars.

Track List
01. Ecce Homo
02. Still Life With Hot Deuce And Silver Platter
03. Upon Viewing Oregon's Landscape With The Flood of Detritus
04. Food Fight!
05. My Eating Disorder
06. Titus Andronicus VS. The Absurd Universe (3rd Round KO)
07. In A Big City
08. In A Small Body
09. (I Am The) Electric Man
10. Tried To Quit Smoking

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/35dpoh0kzwf9bsd/7H2i5jeoNx

Addendum

"...and the reasons for living are seldom and few/when you see one you better stick to it like glue/yes it's true."

I was lucky enough to catch Titus Andronicus live last year at the Metro here in Chicago on their "Bring Back the Dudes" tour.  It was one of those situations where I had listened to all of the band's work but never seen them live.  Had they failed me, than I would potentially feel forever burned.  I'm happy to report that it was hands down one of the best shows I'd ever been privy to witness.  Between literally scaling the scaffolding to un-ironically wave an American Flag, guzzling water to aid his horribly scratchy and overworked voice and just generally whipping the crowd into a frenzy, it was readily apparent to me that Patrick Stickles and Titus Andronicus are, if nothing else, a ridiculously hard-working and passionate group of musicians.  (Also, they closed with a rendition of The Beastie Boys' "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" with the opening band, The So So Glo's rushing on stage to join in, so there's that bit of awesomeness.) To sum up: Titus Andronicus kick a lot of ass, tell a lot of truth, and don't pull punches. 

Where are Titus Andronicus going after this?  Their next album, slated for release later this year is rumored to be a 30+ song, epic rock opera centered around the struggles of manic depression.  Sounds fun, doesn't it?