They’ve really done it this time. Toronto hardcore collective Fucked Up bring us another magnum opus in their Zodiac series, Year of the Monkey. Picking up where Year of the Goat left off, this is the second chapter in the Grass Can Move Stones trilogy. Telling the story of two young friends, Monkey and Good Goat, it’s a story of self-discovery as they encounter gods, magical creatures loosely following the 16th Century writing Journey To The West, by Wu Cheng’en. Fucked Up also see this story as charting the career of the band and their complex discography over the past 25 years.
Weighing in at a lengthy 1hr 44 minutes, across four tracks, I was filled with fear at the thought of trying to convey the sheer magnitude of this album. You have to fully immerse yourself in the lyrics and story to truly appreciate what the fuck is going on here. The band hop across multiple genres and cram so much into the runtime, it is absolutely breathtaking and rarely lets up. There’s a pdf lyric sheet adorned with beautiful graphics, telling a tale of mythical characters. Clearly a lot of time and effort has gone into creating this absolutely stunning body of work.
So, we begin our journey with ‘Looking For Heaven And Not Finding It’. Tuka Mohammed duets with Damian Abraham with a melodic interplay as the guitars triumphantly tootle away. This is some glorious hardcore prog rock and no-one else fuses the two genres in this way. Utterly unique and utterly batshit. Riffs cascade and tempos shift, as the band throw absolutely all they have into this melting pot of musical madness. Screeching solos and blistering chugging riffs lead us back to the familiar melodies that started this epic track. The narrating collective known as Golden Fisherman (Chris Colohan, Jonah Falco and Mike Haliechuk) are almost operatic in scale as their voices weave a majestic melodic tapestry. The pop splendour of the next passage is a complete blindside, as Destroyer’s Dan Bejar lends vocal duties to the Coiled King Rat character. As I write my review it’s nigh on impossible to keep up with the diverse tangents the song shoots off to with reckless abandon. Fucked Up throw in more hooks in one track than some bands manage across three albums. Like, how the fuck did they record this? How could you ever remember all the parts to play this live? Winding to its close, fizzing electronics underpin waves of distortion finding Tuka elegantly soar with some exquisite melodic lines.
Every track begins with a blast of sound that played back-to-back progress in a scale. ‘Before Us Tigers Stood’ rips out of the blocks with searing guitars that remind me of …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead. They’re probably the only other band on the planet who would attempt to create such magnanimous conceptual bodies of work with mythical imagery at the centre. The atmospheric to this track has become much more sinister, as Monkey finds himself in a perilous position. The guitars charge hard over thunderous drums as we’re told the tale of how the God of Thunder was slayed. Sage Ox (Carson McHone) sings a wondrously melodic verse that veers us wildly into a kaleidoscopic swirl of synths and electronics as Tea Tout Tiger (Annie-Claude Deschénes) teases out some pop melodies. The passage from Thousand Year Old Monkey (Keith Morris) is just stunning, reminiscent of The Magnetic Fields quirky melodies. A lone flute transports us to a scary section, as screeching synths and groaning guitars find Monkey meet Tea Tout Tiger and an army of terrible lizards up Dragon Mountain. There’s pure terror as the music spins out of control helping you grasp the peril Monkey faces as he fights for life. Ebbing into a metallic passage the riffs become taut and muscular as hardcore punk becomes king again. A triumphant ‘Monkey declares “I have conquered my mind, I deserve the sky” before climbing into an ancient well. There’s a devilish black metallic grunt as Monkey remembers his younger days. Then we fall into a trippy passage of chiming guitars as he encounters Fallen Dragon (Sally Morreadora). A quick jaunt through a prog rock section lands us in a folk passage of meandering flutes before hurtling back into powering punk hardcore as Monkey finds himself “in the belly of the beast”.
‘Monkey Meets The Dragon’ drops straight into a perilous chase of screeching guitars and propulsive drums as Monkey has become trapped by the Dragon. They trade off each other spitting out their words as the band wreck all before them with manic intensity. As the fight ensues, all manner of tempo changes, patterns of riffs and chaotic percussion underlay the drama, as Monkey escapes the clutches of the Dragon. Who better to meet next than the Ancient Rat (Walter Schreifels), as the music switches to a sneaky synth bass groove. It transpires it was all a trick as he is still in the belly of the Dragon and so is his old friend the Ox. The music becomes triumphant, charging with hardcore punk energy as Monkey rises up with an army of rats to escape the Dragon once and for all. Armed with a fan of rat’s whiskers he makes the Dragon sneeze them out! The tumultuous guitars subside as Monkey falls to the earth ushered on a beautiful passage of clean guitars and a heavenly melody. Lovelorn Monkey (Brandon Welchez) croons a sweet melody as the guitars swoop with majesty. Lovelorn Goat (Leigh Arthur) soars with almost operatic excellence as we traverse a power ballad sea. When the River of Time (Eidolon) shows up, the guitars begin to wail and screech with feedback, Monkey is about to find himself in trouble again. As the fiery riffs scorch and burn, Jade Monkey (John Brannon) tempts Monkey with devilish charm.
‘Empty Is The Hand’ features choppy drums, heavy guitars and piano raging hard, as Jade Monkey spew out a bilious history lesson. The pianos twinkle as the guitars fade then there’s an eruption of screeching guitars and pounding drums, as Good Goat returns to lift Monkey away from Jade’s violent grip. A calm serenity ensues as clean guitars and keyboards bring a warm glow, Good Goat gets to shine with beautiful melodies. Ebbing away to an almost silence, acoustic guitars usher in a sunny section where Good Goat and Monkey urge each other to stay on the path to righteousness. But then… the calm is smashed, as a full-on hardcore metal chug fires up, Gregarious Hare (Converge’s Jacob Bannon) turns the atmosphere a blackened hue. For this big finale we’re immersed in a black metal hardcore storm as Monkey accepts his fate as he is swept away to a dreamscape of heavenly voices. The final words belong to Good Goat, “Monkey Said to be happy, Though your life is a mystery, Heaven’s light is inside you, Find your way home and live in harmony” as the music fades away like sunrays disappearing being the clouds. What a journey that was.
There’s no other band on the planet like Fucked Up. Extremely prolific, they have continually astounded with the scope of their aspirations. Dreaming up new concepts, they take the rage of hardcore punk and imbue it with magnificent melody and creative arrangements, masters of their instruments. Year of the Monkey finds them at the absolute peak of their powers, it is simply stunning in terms of concept, execution and invention. Incredible.
