Canadian hardcore punk band (but oh so much more than that) Fucked Up’s “Year of the Tiger” is a long song. And a stellar one at that.
The fifth in the band’s series of 12” singles inspired by the signs of the Chinese Zodiac, 2012’s “Year of the Tiger” soars, a steady riff that just builds and builds, with shifts in direction and instrumentation, gentle piano bits played alongside wailing guitars, Damian Abraham’s guttural snarl backed by the soothing singing vocals of guest contributors Katie Stelmanis (of Austra) and Annie-Claude Deschenes (of Duchess Says), and even an appearance from filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. The song is an exuberant epic, a 15-minute blast and flash of melodic drama that sounds like Jim Steinman writing and producing a track for Black Flag in some warped alternate dimension. I suppose that should be expected from a band that released a double album rock opera the year prior.
Fucked Up tend to flex their more ambitious sonic ideas on the Zodiac singles, experimenting with a larger audio palette to varying degrees of success, but end up with the veritable homerun with “Year of the Tiger.”
And who doesn’t like tigers? My son wanted to be one for Halloween eight years ago. So should we all.
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