For all the elitist shits who view the latter day musical direction of these Toronto natives as pretty Fucked Up in itself, this monster 25 track double CD (also available on vinyl) compilation should give you a jolt and sharp reminder of the killer potential this band has when it hits its stride.
Disc One opens with the raging “No Pasarán” their debut single (on Deranged Records) from way back in 2002 and forges ahead to include numerous A and B sides culled from their numerous (limited run) seven inches. There’s some real treats, including “Neat Parts”, “Dangerous Fumes”, “Triumph Of Life”, “Fixed Race” and the pièce de résistance of their early material for me; the 7” version of “Generation” here in all its glory with the smoking spoken word intro care of an Hamas recruitment recording… awesome. Winding down Disc One are a couple of outtakes of songs that featured on their last album “Chemistry of Common Life”, which I was quite disappointed by, but these two versions are pretty rocking, so I may yet reach back to “Chemistry…” for some revision.
Disc Two starts with a 2008 B-side “I Hate Summer”, decent song, but as a sun worshipper I cannot accept the sentiment. Next, the hoary and damn catchy “Teenage Problems” from 2005, then straight in to a “Hidden World” outtake “Carried Out to Sea” – thumping! For me Fucked Up was on a roll at this point, unbeatable. Disc Two also collates some Fucked Up cover versions, by The Shop Assistants, Dolly Mixture and I’m not familiar with the original of “Anorak City” by Another Sunny Day, but this 2008 reprise is great. “Magic Kingdom” (the B-side of “Generation”) gets a welcome dusting down and blows everything to pieces.
For the most part this is an excellent compilation that sits well along side “Epics in Minutes” – the definitive F.U. collection of early material from 2004 (on Deranged).
Pete Craven