Photo by Jake Ballah
Marking the end of FUCKED UP’s coveted “Zodiac Cycle,” which began with Year Of The Dog in Autumn 2006, Year Of The Rooster will release in full on November 13th via Tankcrimes.
FUCKED UP crests their biggest hill to date to deliver Year Of The Rooster, the third and final chapter in the immense Grass Can Move Stones trilogy. This work has unfolded into a narrative masterstroke of neoclassical storytelling which carries so elegantly the musical finale of twenty bold years of songwriting cultivated by FUCKED UP.
To conclude the journey of Grass Can Move Stones is no easy feat. The deep yearning of Monkey to discover his true self has constantly been met by cosmic terror and existential turmoil. Monkey and Good Goat now begin this final chapter in a primordial realm at the beginning of creation, courted by an ornate army of ageless Roosters who can visualize the universe in all stages of history through a looking glass known as “The River Of Time.” They, and you, are about to be rocketed through a never-ending battlefield of dimension bending warfare and discovery. At long last the story approaches the truths that it hints at throughout, delivering more than just a new universe to let the imagination bloom inside, Rooster offers a simple and touching message of humility and dedication in the face of what seems like an otherwise insurmountable existence. Such maxims could only ever be accompanied by a meticulously crafted sound world of compositional fireworks touching on everything in FUCKED UP’s storied musical quiver.
Helmed vocally as always by Tuka Mohammed and Damian Abraham, FUCKED UP’s Year Of The Rooster boasts a deep cast of performers. In an unprecedented generational crossover, …Rooster features a duet between Circle Jerks/Black Flag’s Keith Morris and twee pop’s First Lady, Debsey Wykes of the Dolly Mixture in rich passages of mellow balladry as 1000 Year Old Monkey and 1000 Year Old Goat.
Warthog’s Chris Hansell and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore dual as spies of the underworld, Mr. Eye and Mr. Time, at the beck and call of their evil master, Jade Monkey, who is so viciously performed by John Brannon (Negative Approach). Poison Ruin’s Mac Kennedy and Home Front’s Graeme Mackinnon are Perceval and Young Prince Grin, summoned from the universe of FUCKED UP’s Year Of The Horse to do battle once again.
Charlie Manning Walker (Chubby And The Gang, The Chisel) delivers a harrowing performance as General Rooster, a grizzled officer in an ethereal army charting a course through time in multiple passages more than worthy of the fretboards of Hetfield and Hammett.
Isla Craig, Annie-Claude Deschênes, and Carson McHone appear again as Hare, Tiger, and Ox, and our chorus of narrators now boasts Canadian Opera Singer Amy Gottung, cinema’s Julian Richings, the celestial voice of Hidden World Heidi Hazelton, and Candy frontman Zak Quiram.
The referential nature of the songwriting on Grass Can Move Stones becomes clearest on Year Of The Rooster, with new adaptations of FUCKED UP’s catalog written into its bedrock. As sure as there is a script which tells a story, the compositional elements could equally have its own book. Thematics take on new duties in new contexts and both subtle and obvious references to FUCKED UP’s Hidden World and The Chemistry Of Common Life are heard amongst all of the musical neologisms. Guitar harmonies of Thin Lizzy, the vocal stacks of ELO and Queen, both grinding against the dark intensity of Ulver, the sharpened teeth of South Of Heaven-era Slayer, baggy groove laden acoustic passages, hammering sludge, tuneful danceable indie, and the shimmering beauty of the multiplicitous guitar worlds of FUCKED UP.
In advance of this monumental release, the band has shared two excerpts from the work.
Stream “Good Goat Saw A Leaf” HERE and “I Hear The Hooves” HERE.
The vinyl edition of FUCKED UP’s Year Of The Rooster will be released on 2xLP in the following limited variants:
“Algae” marbled (Tankcrimes Exclusive – Ltd. 200)
Splattered (Ltd. 300)
Gold (Fucked Up band exclusive – Ltd. 500
Retail Exclusive Vinyl TBA (Ltd. 1000)
Find physical preorders HERE and digital preorders at the FUCKED UP Bandcamp page HERE.
Year Of The Rooster Track Listing:
- Clear Is The Mirror
- Havoc In Heaven
- Grass Can Move Stones
- Calming Winds And Waves
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The post FUCKED UP: Year Of The Rooster 2xLP To See Release November 13th Via Tankcrimes; Two Excerpts Now Streaming + Preorders Available first appeared on Earsplit Compound.