Review Summary: A rock opera well worth the price of admission
There’s a time-hardened standard for punk music we have grown accustom to. It’s often categorized by punchy 3-minute anthems complete with predictable chord progressions, sneering lyricism, and chest beating choruses. This rigid framework has bred consistency over the years – a consistency that has formed a punk faithful that have come to demand a tried and true model. But with their latest effort, The Most Lamentable Tragedy, Titus Andronicus turns this punk rock prototype inside out and produces an album that explores the far reaches of what punk music can be, without compromising the spirit and tenacity that endears so many fans to the genre. Equipped with 10-minute long epics, infectious melodies, and bold sonic experimentation, TMLT injects theatrical, stadium-rock elements with furious vocals that bleed with the suburban angst we’ve come to expect from the New Jersey rockers.
Like the predecessors before it, TMLT wastes no time kicking in the door with a continuation of Titus Andronicus’ “No Future” saga that has all the uncontrolled frenzy, anchored by shimmering guitar hooks that have become the Titus trademark since their 2008 debut The Airing of Grievances. It sweeps us straight into “Stranded (On My Own),” one of the more blistering numbers on the record that showcase frontman Patrick Stickles’ manic vocals that are belted with such conviction that it’s impossible to challenge his sincerity. He doesn’t write music he wants to play, he writes music he needs to play.
What follows are a series of tracks that are arguably the group’s most pop-infused efforts to date. From an Elvis Costello brand of boogie on “I Lost My Mind (+@)” to a beautifully composed “Come on, Siobhán” that is so impossibly catchy that it would make J. Geils green with envy. TMLT’s influences may be eclectic, but they are so aptly chosen that the arrangement of its styles never seems unfamiliar. When Stickles channels his inner Shane MacGowan in an earnest cover of The Pogues’ classic “A Pair of Brown Eyes” you know that the album is still very much grounded in the punk roots planted well before them.
In what is being dubbed a rock opera, The Most Lamentable Tragedy clocks in at over an hour and a half, so its length becomes one of the more important aspects of the record. An album of this magnitude can often fatigue a listener – begging them to pick apart tracks they can skip on subsequent listens to make the experience more manageable. It is not uncommon for expansive concept albums like this to collapse under the weight of its own ambition. Despite a few miscalculated uses of church-like choir ensembles and ambient noises that are meant to bridge certain tracks, but instead make parts of the album feel disjointed, TMLT still manages to rise above the potential shortcomings of a lengthy record. It uses loud/soft dynamics to tremendous effect that allow the album to breathe and compose itself with each sprawling number, and absorb the listener’s attention rather than exhaust it.
The Most Lamentable Tragedy will be called a challenging record. But since when was punk rock supposed to be easy? The genre needs pioneers like Titus Andronicus to continue to produce inspired work that pushes the envelope, treads new ground, and defines a new era in punk music. It is a rewarding experience, and one that will continue to reveal new layers with each listen.
