Titus Andronicus - Titus Andronicus

It’s like when you watch Spinal Tap for the first time; you know it’s there and it’s funny, but it takes more than one watch to get it all. Or a brand new pair of 501 Levi’s; they look kind of shit when you first put them on, but after much wear and tear, they’re cool as fuck. Titus Andronicus have a similar effect.

On first listen to their self-titled debut single, nothing strikes. Just another bunch of US Punks, hailing from New Jersey, who think they’ve got the edge. Sure enough, on listening a second (then a third, then a fourth) time, opinion doesn’t change so much as it rather makes allowances. Fun lyrics, for instance (“They’ll be no cigarettes/ No more having sex/ No more drinking till you fall on the floor”), and a vocal which sometimes recalls that of The Horrors’ Faris Rotter (or Badwan, whichever name he goes by these days). But despite everything, it fails to cement itself in your memory.

The B-sides are an entirely different story: ‘Everytime I See The Light’ parts 1 and 2 have something more than the lead single. Melding LA new noise to Black Lips warbles, these two tracks are a definite upgrade from ‘Titus Andronicus’. You wouldn’t pin the band as Punk, but as something else; something more intriguing. Something that makes it worth while to go out and actually buy the record.