Titus Andronicus | ||
| Allmusic Biography : A punk-inflected indie rock group whose bawling, thrashing sound reflected a wide range of influences ranging from the Pixies to Bright Eyes to Bruce Springsteen, Glen Rock, New Jerseys Titus Andronicus formed in 2005 with bandleader and songwriter Patrick Stickles supported by Liam Betson, Ian Graetzer, Eric Harm, and Dan Tews. The bands debut full-length, The Airing of Grievances (which makes reference to a Seinfeld episode), was first released by Troubleman Unlimited in 2008, then picked up for wider distribution by XL Recordings in January 2009. For the bands impressive 2010 follow-up, The Monitor, Titus Andronicus beefed up the production value and enlisted the help of musicians from ten other indie acts, including members of the Hold Steady, Vivian Girls, and Ponytail. Two years later they returned with their third effort, Local Business, a more personal album that found the band looking inward for inspiration. In 2015, after a number of personnel changes (Stickles was joined by the core band of guitarists Adam Reich and Jonah Maurer, bassist Julian Veronesi, and drummer Eric Harm, along with a number of guest vocalists and instrumentalists), Titus Andronicus moved to the noted independent label Merge Records, who released their fourth album, The Most Lamentable Tragedy, an ambitious rock opera in five acts inspired by Stickles own bouts with manic depression. Stickles took Titus Andronicus in a very different creative direction with 2018s A Productive Cough, which eschewed punk rock in favor of a more casual, intimate sound fashioned with a large group of musicians rather than the bands core members. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 9 Title: The Airing of Grievances Released: 2008-04-14 Tracks: 9 Duration: 45:11 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ (05:55) 2 My Time Outside the Womb (02:54) 3 Joset of Nazareths Blues (02:29) 4 Arms Against Atrophy (05:15) 5 Upon Viewing Brueghels "Landscape With the Fall of Icarus" (04:24) 6 Titus Andronicus (03:12) 7 No Future, Part One (07:39) 8 No Future, Part Two: The Days After No Future (06:53) 9 Albert Camus (06:24) |
| The Airing of Grievances : Allmusic album Review : Remember the Keystone Kops and the way their paddy wagon would careen wildly down the road and all the Kops would be hanging on for dear life as they were whipped about crazily? Listening to Titus Andronicus debut record, The Airing of Grievances, makes you think that maybe the band recorded the album in much the same way the Kops chased criminals. Its a rollicking, rambling, yowling mess of a record framed by the bands half-baked literary ambitions (check the bands name and references to Cormac McCarthy and Albert Camus) and vocalist Patrick Stickles yelping vocals (which are oddly reminiscent of Mick Jones at his most stray cat-like). In the Keystone Kops scenario, hes the wagon and the bandmembers are the ones just barely holding on. Or maybe its more of a tug of war where everyone ends up in the mud. Either way, the wild dynamic action makes The Airing of Grievances an exhausting, entertaining listen. At their best on tracks like the title song and "Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ," Titus Andronicus sound like Bright Eyes with their guitars plugged right into the wall socket or Arcade Fire with fewer lessons but more consumption of cheap beer. The groups untrammeled, enthusiastic attack covers up almost every tiny flaw in the albums design. For example, the far too reverential Springsteen cop at the beginning of "Joset of Nazareths Blues" is redeemed by the sheer improbability of Al-Rawis unhinged vocal style. Elsewhere, it might be weak lyrics saved by guitar heroics, or less than inventive song structures fixed by the overflow of energy that flows through the record like a river of beer sweat. Nothing can fix the meandering ballad "No Future, Pt. 1," which pretty much stops the record dead in the home stretch -- the band, and especially Al-Rawi, just might not be cut out for introspective power ballads. The songs that follow finish up the album on a high note, though, with closer "Albert Camus" proving that the guys can slow down a bit without losing the drive that sustains them elsewhere. The Airing of Grievances isnt a perfect record by any means, but it is a lot of fun -- and if they can avoid cleaning up their sound too much and keep plugging away, they may come up with something great someday. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 9 Title: The Innocents Abroad - Titus Andronicus Live In London 23/02/09 Released: 2009-03-23 Tracks: 8 Duration: 30:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Joset of Nazareths Blues (02:33) 2 Every Time I See the Light Part 2 (01:37) 3 Titus Andronicus Forever (02:12) 4 Wipeout (01:32) 5 Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ (05:45) 6 No Future, Pt. 1 (08:18) 7 No Future, Pt. 2: The Days After No Future (04:45) 8 Roadrunner (03:12) |
 | Album: 3 of 9 Title: The Monitor Released: 2010-03-08 Tracks: 10 Duration: 1:05:24 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 A More Perfect Union (07:09) 2 Titus Andronicus Forever or Theme From "The Monitor" (01:55) 3 No Future Part Three: Escape From No Future (05:16) 4 Richard II or Extraordinary Popular Dimensions and the Madness of Crowds (Responsible Hate Anthem) (05:06) 5 A Pot in Which to Piss (08:53) 6 Four Score and Seven (08:38) 7 Theme From "Cheers" (05:01) 8 To Old Friends and New (07:00) 9 ...And Ever or Theme From "The Monitor" (reprise) (02:24) 10 The Battle of Hampton Roads (14:02) |
| The Monitor : Allmusic album Review : Named for one of the U.S. Navy’s legendary, ironclad battleships, and with a loose civil war concept in tow, Titus Andronicus shows signs of maturity on The Monitor, not just in their weighty theme and the abundance of historical references, but also musically. Coming off their lo-fi, garage-punk debut, the four-piece aimed high for their second album, and incorporated a surplus of instrumentation (bagpipes, fiddle, trombone, and cello, among other things) that was performed by a who’s-who in the underground indie rock circuit. Guest musicians from the Hold Steady, Double Dagger, Vivian Girls, Ponytail, Spider Bags, Hallelujah the Hills, Wye Oak, the Felice Brothers, Deer Tick, and Dinowalrus all lend a hand in beefing up the production value, taking TA’s sound from that of a blue-collar bar band to a chugging Celtic punk arena powerhouse. There are striking similarities to the Pogues’ drunken caterwauling and the Replacements’ straining voracity, as well as Bright Eyes’ affinity for literary drama, and while it’s impressive that the band fills such big shoes, the biggest achievement of The Monitor is that it feels so significant in its own right. It’s the sound of a band dipping into classic sounds, and spreading them out to make their own classic. Singer Patrick Stickles is completely booze-drenched and riled as he rifles through journal entries about alcoholism and loserdom in down-and-out pub-shoutalongs. He howls with sincerity “there is nothing about myself I respect, still haven’t done anything I did not later regret,“ and weaves self-depreciation into sadly funny quips, “Talk about our grandkids as we stroke our grey beards, funny that we’re doing car bombs after all of these years.” Blowing past the hour mark with muscular, multi-segmented songs that branch off into sax solos, honky tonk piano parts, and faux civil war snippets, the record is ambitious, to say the least (think, a modern-day Bat Out of Hell), but it never feels too heavy-handed. Fourteen-minute closer “The Battle of Hampton Roads” is as riveting as it is ambitious, and thats saying something. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 9 Title: Local Business Released: 2012-10-22 Tracks: 10 Duration: 49:26 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Ecce Homo (05:11) 2 Still Life With Hot Deuce and Silver Platter (05:30) 3 Upon Viewing Oregons Landscape With the Flood of Detritus (03:27) 4 Food Fight! (01:09) 5 My Eating Disorder (08:12) 6 Titus Andronicus VS. The Absurd Universe (3rd Round KO) (02:09) 7 In a Big City (03:35) 8 In a Small Body (06:11) 9 (I Am the) Electric Man (04:14) 10 Tried to Quit Smoking (09:44) |
| Local Business : Allmusic album Review : After the rousing triumph of their 2010 album The Monitor, it was clear that Titus Andronicus were going to have a hard time topping themselves. Filled with manic intensity and a sweeping, civil war-inspired concept, the album made for an easy cause to rally around. With their third album, Local Business, the band seems to be turning inward, with singer Patrick Stickles laying bare his own internal conflicts for the world to see. Set against a backdrop of ripping heartland rock, Stickles makes himself an open book, laying bare all of his anxiety and self-doubt for the world to hear and sing along to. One of the most revealing sections of the album comes by way of "My Eating Disorder," not just in the way it explores Stickles own struggles with food and mental health, but in how it reframes the songs that come before and after it. When put into context, the simple fun of "Food Fight" feels like the work of a Greek chorus, with the songs simple, seemingly carefree message a grim portent of things to come. Meanwhile, "Titus Andronicus vs. the Absurd Universe (3rd Round KO)" is the big finish of the three-song suite that feels like one part revelation and one part cry for help. Bookending this intensely personal trilogy are songs about self-doubt, self-loathing, and self-consciousness, and though subjects that might normally trend toward self-indulgence, the earnestness of the bands delivery helps to wrap the songs in an inviting warmth that makes it easy to sit a spell and listen. On the surface, the sounds of the two albums feel pretty similar, but thematically, theyre worlds apart. Where The Monitor was a punk rock general addressing the troops, Local Business is an afternoon barfly telling his problems to anyone willing to listen and stump up for a drink, and fortunately for listeners, this drunk has a lyric book that theyll want to spend some time with. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 9 Title: Record Store Day Released: 2013-04-20 Tracks: 3 Duration: 05:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Still Life With Hot Deuce and Silver Platter (05:30) 2 (Ive Got a) Date Tonight (?) 3 The Dog (?) |
 | Album: 6 of 9 Title: The Most Lamentable Tragedy Released: 2015-07-28 Tracks: 28 Duration: 1:31:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Angry Hour (01:41) 2 No Future Part IV : No Future Triumphant (04:53) 3 Stranded ( On My Own ) (04:23) 4 Lonely Boy (05:21) 5 I Lost My Mind ( +@ ) (04:18) 6 Look Alive (00:33) 7 The Magic Morning (01:00) 8 Lookalike (00:47) 9 I Lost My Mind ( DJ ) (01:35) 10 Mr. E. Mann (03:48) 11 Fired Up (04:04) 12 Dimed Out (02:56) 1 More Perfect Union (09:39) 2 Come On, Siobhán (03:43) 3 A Pair of Brown Eyes (03:16) 4 Auld Lang Syne (01:45) 5 I’m Going Insane ( Finish Him ) (01:57) 1 Sun Salutation (00:55) 2 (S)HE SAID / (S)HE SAID (09:11) 3 Funny Feeling (03:23) 4 Fatal Flaw (03:27) 5 Please (01:14) 6 The Fall (00:46) 7 Into the Void ( Filler ) (04:36) 8 No Future Part V : In Endless Dreaming (04:40) 9 [ seven seconds ] (00:07) 10 Stable Boy (06:51) 11 A Moral (00:30) |
| The Most Lamentable Tragedy : Allmusic album Review : On their first three albums, Titus Andronicus made it clear they were among the most thematically and stylistically ambitious bands to emerge from the punkier end of indie rock since the dawn of the new millennium. Having shown they were equal to the task of a concept album on 2010s The Monitor, TA leader Patrick Stickles has chosen to scale the slippery slope of a creative challenge that has bested many great bands: the rock opera. 2015s The Most Lamentable Tragedy is a narrative in five acts concerning a man scarred by abuse, drugs, and mental illness who encounters his doppelganger, leading to an internal crisis that explodes into violence. In the grand tradition of rock operas from the Whos Tommy to Fucked Ups David Comes to Life, The Most Lamentable Tragedy doesnt always scan very clearly as a story, with the through line from song to song often getting lost or wandering astray. But Stickles has done an outstanding job in drafting his protagonist, making his anger, fear, and madness seem vivid and powerfully honest, and Stickles vocals bring the haunted man to vivid life. And if the narrative isnt always effective, Stickles has given each of the five acts a genuine feel of its own, from the agony and paranoia of Act I: Set Aside, or Miserable and Water Buried to the romantic hope-against-hope in Act IV, The Other Side, Or a Midsummer Nights Dream. The whole of this album is truly more than the sum of the parts, and the parts are quite strong in and of themselves; the opening salvos are smart but muscular punk rock with a melodic edge, "Mr. E. Mann" is one of several letter-perfect Bruce Springsteen homages on the set list, "Fatal Flaw" and "Come On, Siobhan" are superb pop tunes with just the right touch of grit, and the stark background of "No Future, Pt V: In Endless Dreaming" and "Stable Boy" help bring the album to an emotionally powerful close. And instrumentally, Stickles and his collaborators -- including guitarists Adam Reich and Jonah Maurer, bassist Julian Veronesi, drummer Eric Harm, and a small army of backing vocalists and instrumentalists -- give this music and their performances a rich and dynamic sound that suits the many moods of the material and achieves the stylistic diversity these songs demand. Sometimes suggesting a cross between Hüsker Düs Zen Arcade and Bruce Springsteens The River, The Most Lamentable Tragedy is as big, smart, and heartfelt as either of those albums, and a striking example of what Titus Andronicus can achieve. Anyone who doubted they were one of the major bands of our day will doubtless be convinced after a couple spins of The Most Lamentable Tragedy. [The CD version added three bonus tracks.] | ||
 | Album: 7 of 9 Title: S+@dium Rock : Five Nights at the Opera Released: 2016-07-29 Tracks: 11 Duration: 43:54 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Dimed Out (03:25) 2 Lonely Boy (08:22) 3 I Lost My Mind (04:27) 4 Fatal Flaw (03:48) 5 The Fall (00:55) 6 Into the Void (Filler) (04:23) 7 Sun Salutation (01:43) 8 No Future Part V : In Endless Dreaming (04:30) 9 69 Stones (03:12) 10 Stable Boy (06:06) 11 Stranded (On Our Own) (02:58) |
 | Album: 8 of 9 Title: A Productive Cough Released: 2018-03-02 Tracks: 7 Duration: 46:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Number One (In New York) (08:13) 2 Real Talk (07:15) 3 Above the Bodega (Local Business) (04:46) 4 Crass Tattoo (04:21) 5 (Im) Like a Rolling Stone (08:53) 6 Home Alone (08:17) 7 Mass Transit Madness (Goin Loco) (04:59) |
 | Album: 9 of 9 Title: An Obelisk Released: 2019-06-21 Tracks: 10 Duration: 38:24 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Just Like Ringing a Bell (03:30) 2 Troubleman Unlimited (04:28) 3 (I Blame) Society (03:20) 4 My Body and Me (03:50) 5 Hey Ma (05:30) 6 Beneath the Boot (01:27) 7 On the Street (01:07) 8 Within the Gravitron (05:34) 9 The Lion Inside (04:26) 10 Tumult Around the World (05:08) |