Fucked Up: Couple Tracks

Label: Matador

Fucked Up fans who’ve been there since the beginning: Will you be our friend? And, oh yeah, you know those piles of singles the band’s been releasing since the early side of the last decade? They’re all stacked together here in blisteringly unrelenting fury! Two discs worth! Fuck yeah! The Toronto punk outfit really is just a smashing good time. What we learn from Couple Tracks, which actually contains 25 tracks, is the band was birthed in intensity: The debut single, “No Pasaran,” is recorded in the red but otherwise just explodes. Over time, the band has grown more proficient (not like they weren’t always though) and has gotten comfortable with letting some songs run extra-long in punk terms; credit drummer G. Beat for sustaining the furious pace no matter what. One minute, two minute, six minutes, no problem — Fucked Up is your band. A great and necessary punk document, guaranteed to wear you out before it lets up. (M.L. Thrope)