Titus Andronicus - New Album!

Titus Andronicus is a great band. That much is obvious. The Airing of Grievances is an incredibly strong debut, with spiky punk rock made all the more meaningful with the shoegaze, lo-fi buzz that envelops it.

You know what else they are great at? Naming stuff. Being English majors all, they must be painfully conscious that their band's name is a reference to Shakespere first and most unbelievably violent revenge play - a Tarentinoesque romp through an ancient Roman world of murder, cannibalism, gang rape and incest. The first albums title is equally awesome, being the name of a coveted ceremony of Festivus, the Christmas celebration made popular by Seinfeld.

So what are they talking about in Monitor? It can be hard to tell, with inscrutable liner notes and the inablility to make out most of what the lead singer barks - but it turns out its the Civil War, as the Monitor was the first ironclad ship which was deployed during the civil war (you know those ugly tent looking things? yeah). Titus Andronicus decided to use their 2nd album to honor the upcoming anniversary of this great conflict, and have appropriately shifted their approach. The songs hear are longer, more epic, and tinged with an atmosphere that recalls the work of The Pouges or The Dropkick Murphy's.

I haven't had a chance to make it through the whole album yet, but what I've heard is solid and interesting. And this song, "A More Perfect Union," seems fairly emblematic of the character of the album as a whole. And its good!

Titus Andronicus - OS|MS

Titus Andronicus - "A More Perfect Union"