The Airing of Grievances begins with a slow, strained and almost exhausted, echoey guitar.  Barely understandable, the haunting, muffled vocals drift over the lonely guitar.  After a minute or two, there is a rousing “FUCK YOU” and the record kicks off in earnest.  Kind of gimmicky, sure, but entertaining nonetheless.  However, don’t let a jokey intro distract you from the awesomeness of the record as a whole, as this shift in the song becomes a common method used by the band because many of the songs see a drastic change in tone, tempo and music at various points in the middle of tracks (though not as pronounced as on Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ).  As I stated in my section on our roundtable editorial on album sequencing, the ‘Sleight of Hand” intro (where you have a song which is totally off the wall and not representative of the rest of the record) is a bad idea, and although this technique is used, in a way, it is easily forgivable on the strength of the rest of the record, and because it is not utilized for the entirety of the intro track.  Hit the jump for the review.

At many times on this album, Titus Andronicus evokes The Strokes, albeit an extremely high energy and furious version of the Strokes (see  Arms Against Atrophy), which ends up being a very cool sound.  What makes me laugh to myself while listening to this album is how Patrick Stickles’ voice sounds somewhat like Conor Oberst’s voice – but as if Oberst was using his OUTSIDE VOICE.  This album is also clearly not without it’s lighter moments, despite some fairly serious lyrics, as I’m pretty sure the title, “The Airing of Grievances,” is taken from one of the most hallowed of Frank Costanza’s Festivus traditions.

Other portions of this album veer from the punk side as on Upon Viewing Brueghel’s “Landscape With The Fall Of Icarus” and Titus Andronicus.  One of the best tracks on the album is perhaps one of the biggest deviation from the norm on No Future Part One.  With the slower beat, almost country sounding guitar and vocals and very dark lyrics, it is wildly different from the immediately preceding track, Titus Andronicus.  It seems the band can’t keep this slow pace up, however, as around 3:30 in, the track takes a shift and speeds things way up for the bridge.  Part One is perfectly complimented by (you guessed it) No Future Part Two: The Day After No Future.

Closing with Albert Camus, this final track puts a sharp point on the end of a furious sentence, and Titus Andronicus closes with some classically punk lyrics with “So death, be not proud, because we don’t give a fuck about nothing and we only want what we are not allowed.”  All in all this is a pretty fantastic record, but the album really shines in the back ½.  Things really take off with Upon Viewing Brueghel’s… and charge ahead full power through the final bars.  Breathless and focused, The Airing of Grievances kicks off well and does not lose sight of the goal for the entirety of the album.  Even the spoken slow parts fit in very nicely with the whole of the album, and it does not distract the listener or loosen a wheel of the wagon, so to speak.  I really recommend giving this album repeated listens at a very high volume.  Seriously, the louder the better.

Daigle Rate – 86

Titus Andronicus – Arms Against Atrophy – From Airing of Grievances
Titus Andronicus – No Future Part One – From Airing of Grievances

Upcoming tour dates (opening for Los Campesinos!), including this weekend in the Big D:

01-29 Houston, TX – Walter’s On Washington
01-30 Austin, TX – The Parish
01-31 Dallas, TX – Club Dada
02-03 Lawrence, KS – The Bottleneck
02-04 St. Louis, MO – The Gargoyle
02-06 Madison, WI – Der Rathskeller
02-07 Chicago, IL – Logan Sq. Auditorium
02-10 Grand Rapids, MI – Calvin College Ladies Literary Club
02-11 Columbus, OH – Wexner Center for the Arts
02-12 Swarthmore, PA – Swarthmore College Olde Club
02-13 Boston, MA – Paradise Rock Club
02-14 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
02-15 New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom