the war of northern aggression

titus andronicus "the monitor"
drive-by truckers "the big to-do"

albums of the year (so far) ... two records that have infected me.

"the monitor" ... really? civil war you punk ass northern kidz? ... the short ... comically long songs ... pretentious as all get out ... channelling jim steinman songwriting at times ... shades of ghostface (a fucking scooby doo reference? this dude is craig finn on a heavy sugar diet, the mix of billy bragg and the boss refs on the first tune is both brilliant and STOOPID), and the best fucking record i've heard in A WHILE. a way more compelling vision of teen alienation (and they ain't teens) than zen arcade (which, can we now agree was never a concept album to begin with?) or "footloose". this shit is fun, this shit is rock, this shit has a backbone. this is the odd record i hear and WISH i was in the band playin gtr. listening to this record gives me an understanding of what's going thru peep's screamin heads when they hear the opening chords of "thunder rd" or "heat of the moment" ... and not for nuthin, "theme from cheers" is not only the best song title of '10, but the best song (so far).

"the big to-do" ... slow burn epic in a fucking history of epics ... patterson tossin of ideas like a drunken nobel (not gettin thru the ideas half the time, but that's the fuckin charm) ... halfway thru wonderin why not more cooley??? (monster throwin scraps) ... they bought new pedals? .... backup vocals? ... "this fuckin job" bein a more compelling argument than anything obama has come up with as prez... shonna, who knew? adding a reigning sound worthy tune ... and cooley closin this thing with a ballad that could kill a fuckin loaded steam train.

i want these bands to date twice, get drunk, and fucking smack each other around.