For us, 2011 was another year of taking in as much as we could and sharing the best with you. Next year, however, will be a homecoming of sorts, a return to rock-'n'-roll roots. We'll soon be able to share the projects that we have in store — across multiple mediums — but for now, dig into this rock-focused list of must-own albums.

And for more, revisit (or simply visit) our lists from 2010 and 2009:

100 Unheralded Albums from 2010
50 Unheralded Albums from 2009

Steven Drozd: The Heart Is A Drum Machine (The Score) (Twinkle Cash Co., 1/18/11)

Steven Drozd: "Born"

A multi-instrumentalist and the third-most-tenured member of The Flaming Lips, Steven Drozd marked his first official solo release early this year with the nearly instrumental accompaniment to the documentary The Heart is a Drum Machine.

The music shares a lot of characteristics with the Flaming Lips of the past dozen years – synthesized grooves, big rock beats, fuzz bass, airy keyboards, and different instrumental flourishes weaving in and out. But listeners are unlikely to confuse the two, and the score succeeds as a standalone album as well as a film accompaniment.

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead: Tao of the Dead (Richter Scale Records / Superball Music, 2/8/11)

…And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead: "Weight of the Sun"

There has been no shortage of grand themes and allegories in the canon of Austin post-punk quintet …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. The band’s newest album, however, better matches its ambitious themes with its music, presenting an epic pair of pieces for Tao of the Dead.

The album recalls progressive albums of yore, from the likes of Rush and King Crimson, but channels them into easily digested movements. Stretches of heavy distortion and drum thrashing will appeal to the more metal-minded Trail of Dead fans, but there’s also plenty of hook-laden, radio-ready alternative rock.

Wires Under Tension: Light Science (Western Vinyl, 2/8/11)

Wires Under Tension: "Electricity Turns Them On"

Light Science is the exciting debut from Wires Under Tension, a duo comprised of violinist/multi-instrumentalist Christopher Tignor and drummer Theo Metz. With help from a few friends, including Jared Bell of Lymbyc Systym, the two combine live performance with electronic manipulation, sounding something like a progressive Dirty Three with horns, hip-hop beats, and post-rock guitar swells.

This seven-track release is a dense, fluid collection that retains consistency thanks to Metz’s steady rhythms. Electro-mechanical piano, clavinet, and synthesizers mesh with loops and samples to round out an impressive first release.

Pitom: Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes (Tzadik, 2/22/11)

Pitom: "Head in the Ground"

Combining heavy, fuzzy rock jams with Jewish melodies, Pitom is one of many projects from guitarist, bassist, and composer Yoshie Fruchter. Blasphemy and Other Serious Crimes, the quartet's second release on Tzadik, follows the same path as its predecessor, but it does so with a bit more cohesion and restraint.

Built from the ground up with distorted bass and violin, the band's music carries similarities to that of Skeletonbreath and Miasma & The Carousel of Headless Horses. Whether driving a song with an infectious melody, commingling with the violin in the high end, or simply taking over a track with raw ability, Fruchter knows when to go full throttle (the punk power of "An Epic Encounter") or pull back (the dark slow jam of "A Resentful Repentance").

The Psychic Paramount: II (No Quarter, 2/22/11)

The Psychic Paramount: "RW"

Though relatively silent for the past six years, New York noise-rock trio The Psychic Paramount returned in February to release its first full-length since 2005. Effected guitar loops, devastating low-end grooves, and bashing rhythms again form the core of the band's sound, but II is a direct yet dynamic rock explosion.

Between the guitar, the cymbals, and the effects, the mid-range gets a constant workout. Those who are turned off by this kind of music may find it to be an exercise in patience, but the lengthier durations are a testament to the trio's skills at climax and denouement.

DeVotchKa: 100 Lovers (Anti-, 3/1/11)

DeVotchKa: "100 Other Lovers"

Following the fame from its Oscar-winning soundtrack for Little Miss Sunshine in 2006, Denver multi-instrumental quartet DeVotchKa has playfully tinkered with its sweeping, emotive sound. Though it already tossed together elements of folk, rock, Mexican, and Gypsy music, it remained united by the sullen croons and songwriting of frontman Nick Urata.

That unifying factor remains, but its newest album, 100 Lovers – its second post-Sunshine full-length – continues to expand the band’s scope. The material adds new and often subtle flavors to DeVotchKa’s repertoire. Uninitiated listeners might hear more of the same, but 100 Lovers is perfect for content fans – moving in new directions without a radical departure.

Stateless: Matilda (Ninja Tune, 3/1/11)

Stateless: "Ariel"

Matilda, Stateless' second full-length, showcases the British electro-rock group's continued maturity. Lead singer Chris James hits an impressive range of notes, from reverb-cloaked backing croons to soulful leads, atop an amalgamated mix of styles, sounds, and beats.

With contributions from The Balanescu Quartet, DJ Shadow, and Shara Worden (of My Brightest Diamond), Matilda is stylistically inventive, with familiar worldly touchstones reworked into new contexts.

Grails: Deep Politics (Temporary Residence, 3/8/11)

Grails: "I Led Three Lives"

With cinematic soundscapes, Westernized Indian melodies, film-noir mystique, 1960s psychedelia, and crushing heaviness, Grails is an instrumental rarity. The Portland band's newest offering, Deep Politics, is an engaging and epic mix of acoustic intonations, indigenous sounds and melodies, spaghetti-western motifs, somber piano balladry, and more doom-filled, Eastern-infused stylistic transcendence.

And thanks in part to arrangements by Timba Harris, the mighty violinist from unparalleled genre annihilators Estradasphere and Secret Chiefs 3, Deep Politics vies to be Grails’ best album yet.

Parts & Labor: Constant Future (Jagjaguwar, 3/8/11)

Parts & Labor: "Constant Future"

After establishing itself early last decade as an interesting new name in noise rock, Parts & Labor delivered a flurry of releases over the span of just a few years. Since then, the band has scaled back to a trio built around the fuzzed guitar, bass, keyboard hooks, and tight rock rhythms.

Featuring some of the band's sturdiest songs yet, Constant Future is direct, potent, and catchy. Behind Dan Friel and BJ Warshaw's echoing, harmonized vocals are dirty, thick grooves that power the overlaid electronic freak-outs.

Adebisi Shank: This is the Second Album from a Band Called Adebisi Shank (Sargent House, 3/15/11)

Adebisi Shank: "Micro Machines"

Released to European acclaim in 2010, the aptly titled second album from Irish electro/math rockers Adebisi Shank achieved North American release this year thanks to the peerless Sargent House.

The management company / record label describes the trio as a blend of Fang Island’s shredding riffs with Battles’ electronic quirkiness and rhythmic playfulness. That description isn’t off the mark, but readers won’t get a sense of the band’s real abilities until they hear its hyper-melodic, polyrhythmic, and — most importantly — jubilant songs in full.

Second Album delivers a maelstrom of zany electronics, unusual distortions, and triumphant, rapidly ascending scales mixed with vintage synths, marimba, horns, and other accoutrements. This is all packaged between and around gloriously catchy and powerful rock riffs, resulting in a manic and buoyant sophomore effort.

There will be 10 concerts in just 72 hours on board, including performances by Fucked Up, King Khan & The Shrines, Thee Oh Sees, and Neil Hamburger, among others. When the live music runs out, there's still plenty left to do: soul dance-offs, puppet shows, open-bar cocktail hours, mini-golf, hairy-chest contests, and more.

A limited quantity of tickets still is available, so book yours here, and be sure to check out the other events and amenities on the Bruise Cruise.

The Black Keys: El Camino (Nonesuch / Warner Bros.)

The Black Keys: "Lonely Boy"

The Black Keys has come a long way from its modest start in Akron, Ohio. Ever since the early 2000s, the band has been one of the most consistent acts around, churning out album after album of gritty, blues-infused garage rock. But with recent appearances on The Colbert Report and Saturday Night Live, as well as a North American tour featuring numerous arena stops, the band has refined its sound to adapt to its new surroundings and mounting exposure. And El Camino, the band's latest effort, showcases that adaptation, as the band has cultivated a bigger, more varied sound.

Guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney once again teamed up with Danger Mouse to oversee the production, and the result is one of the band’s most instrumentally diverse offerings. Though the songs are firmly fixed in the classic Black Keys style (tactile distortion, clamoring drums, bluesy vocals, and noodling guitar solos), El Camino builds on the band’s recent exploration of musical diversity and experimentation. The excellent “Dead and Gone” sounds like a ’60s jamboree, chocked full of xylophones and layered, harmonized vocals; “Gold on the Ceiling” features a variety of synths and new guitar sounds that integrate seamlessly into the duo’s signature rock-outs; “Little Black Submarines” starts out with a heartfelt, acoustic folk arrangement before colliding with a wall of grunged-out guitars and crashing cymbals.

The Black Keys may be getting bigger, but that hasn’t hindered the duo’s creative energy. If anything, it’s gotten stronger on El Camino.

- Text by Michael Danaher.

The Roots: Undun (Island / Def Jam)

It’s rare when an album asks deserving questions yet doesn’t let the message overshadow the music. But that’s what The Roots has done with its tenth studio album, Undun, which does for Philadelphia what The Wire did for Baltimore — portraying the dark and ruinous underworld of a drug trade that preys disproportionately on certain races and classes, especially their young.

The record traces the last hours in the life of Redford Stephens, a fictional Philly man whom Roots drummer ?uestlove says was inspired in part by The Wire’s Avon Barksdale. A low-level drug dealer, Stephens is a protagonist but not quite a hero. Over funk-fueled bass lines, ?uestlove’s signature beats, and a tasteful sprinkling of soul, the story is unraveled — backwards from the time of death — by MC Black Thought and a handful of guests, including Aaron Livingston, one half of Icebird.

It’s hardly a holiday record, though it does include a cameo by indie darling Sufjan Stevens, whose “Redford (for Yia-Yia and Pappou)” also helped inspire the Roots’ character and comprises the final four tracks of the album, interpreted in various styles. The third of these segments, “Will to Power,” is the most compelling, showing ?uestlove battling avant-garde pianist DD Jackson in a frenzied duel that owes more to free jazz than R&B.

It’s not untruthful to say the music on Undun stands alone — it doesn’t need its narrative any more than Fucked Up’s David Comes to Life needed its — but the words add a weight that transforms it from a solid hip-hop release into a powerful record. Musically, it ventures into some surprising territory, and lyrically, it communicates an urgent message.

- Text by Timothy A. Schuler.

Jacaszek: Glimmer (Ghostly International)

Jacaszek: "Dare-gale"

Polish composer Michał Jacaszek has made a specialty of moody, atmospheric ambience using a classical palette, with bowed strings, operatic voices, and chimes to construct a brooding build. His new album, Glimmer, is his first for Ghostly International, and though it might be misclassified as an electronic album — partly due to its affiliation with Ghostly — it's almost entirely an ambient classical release.

There's enough digital treatment and rearrangement to warrant a partial electronic tag, but it's otherwise a very organic album. Jacaszek wrote and recorded the acoustic-guitar and mellotron passages, and then he enlisted a number of other Polish musicians to play the harpsichord and clarinet parts. It's all a very stirring mix, with the harpsichord, bass clarinet, guitar, and vibraphone — not to mention the washes of fuzz — creating a richness of texture.

The album's inconspicuous complexity and professional performances make it a gem among ambient releases. Those factors also help explain why it's been a bit since Jacaszek's last release, and Glimmer was worth the wait.

- Text by Scott Morrow and Patrick Hajduch. Read the debate here.

Keep Shelly in Athens: Campus Martius EP (Planet Mu)

Keep Shelly in Athens: "Campus Martius"

Hailing from Athens, Greece, Keep Shelly in Athens (whose name is a play on the Grecian suburb Kypseli) is a down-tempo/chill-wave electronic two-piece that has garnered steady 'Net buzz since last year. The hype, to this point, might be a tad undeserved, but the duo's recent In Love With Dusk EP demonstrated potential across a spate of digitized genres, even if it was heavy on the Ibiza influence.

The major appeal here is the interplay between singer Sarah P and producer RPR, whose styles seem to be coming into their own. With Campus Martius, the duo's first release on Planet Mu, there's less of the beach-y nightlife and '80s cheese; instead, there's an urban, industrialized, and ambient vibe to better fit Sarah's elongated and reverberated vocals.

The EP also includes bits of spazzy Aphex Twin drum-and-melancholy, deep bass lines, vocals that would sound at home on a Sneaker Pimps record, and of-the-moment pitched vocal slicing. These elements hang together in a way that seems familiar and yet revelatory, and as a result, Campus Martius occupies a pleasant, bassy corner of the dubstep/post-dubstep/synthesizer continuum.

- Text by Scott Morrow and Patrick Hajduch. Read the debate here.

Loka: Passing Place (Ninja Tune)

Loka: "Sam Star"

In 1999, Liverpool residents Karl Webb and Mark Kyriacou began an exciting studio collaboration as Loka, merging psychedelic, classical, groove, down-tempo, and jazz elements in a daring but foolproof fusion. The project quickly signed to Ninja Tune, but the duo's first full album wasn't released until 2006, and Webb retired from the project in the following year. But now Loka is back, led by Kyriacou and the live Loka band, and the results were worth the wait.

Like that debut full-length (Fire Shepherds), Passing Place is a hybrid of the aforementioned elements. Here, however, a calmness meets the subdued tempos, and celestial vocals are part of a multilayered mélange. In fact, the oft-mentioned down-tempo feel of Fire Shepherds seems lively in comparison to Passing Place, which, despite its active moments, achieves a rare balance of beats and serenity.

“Entrance,” Passing Place’s opening track, almost tricks the listener into thinking that this album will be just like Loka’s first, with the heavy, haunting bass rumblings. But just as the song seems ready to launch into a break beat, a beautiful wordless vocal solo sets the mood of the album’s remainder. The vocal additions (by live-band members Lido Pimiento, Eleanor Mante, and Jaci Williams) weave through the keyboards, drums, and guitars and often determine the haunting, melancholy, or calming feel that each track transmits. It's a wonderful new direction, helping Loka to reestablish itself as a forerunner in classical psychedelia.

- Text by Lauren Zens.

Honorable Mentions

Anomie Belle: Machine EP

Czar: Vertical Mass Grave (Cracknation)

Eastern Blok: Underwater

Goldmund: All Will Prosper (Western Vinyl)

Sunn O))): øø Void reissue (Southern Lord)

Battles: Gloss Drop (Warp)

Battles: "Ice Cream" (f. Matias Aguayo)

Shaken up and stripped down, the three members of experimental post-rock outfit Battles spent the better part of the past year reshaping and restructuring a sound that, up until then, included multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and loop guru Tyondai Braxton.

The new record, Gloss Drop, is a shimmering, fascinating detour from Battles' previous output, soaring with ebullience and sheen. It bounces about on dance-y, frenetic beats and ripples in restorative whirlpools. The music retains Battles' signatory edge and cerebral tone, but the band’s instinctual process has brought about a surprising, new result.

Lively guitar parts and math-rock riffs fuse with overlapping rhythms. Songs like “Futura” incorporate Caribbean percussion, and “Sweetie and Shag,” featuring Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead, features dazzling melodies over a playful composition. Other guests on the album include DJ Matias Aguayo, Boredoms vocalist Yamantaka Eye, and the one and only Gary Numan. Swirling in color and emotion, Gloss Drop does not sound like the record of a band that was contemplating its own demise while creating it.

- Text by Charlie Swanson. Read the feature story here.

Hail Mary Mallon: Are You Gonna Eat That? (Rhymesayers)

Hail Mary Mallon: "Garfield"

With a name and album title inspired by Typhoid Mary, Hail Mary Mallon is the union of MCs/producers Aesop Rock and Rob Sonic and DJ Big Wiz.  Both rappers are alumni of independent hip-hop label Definitive Jux, and all three have collaborated for years, but Are You Gonna Eat That? is their first release as a trio.

The group experience is new for Aesop Rock, and the album has the air of a relaxed, fun endeavor — something with no expectations.  There's plenty of modern production, with muffled bass lines, heavy snare hits, distant horn samples, spot-on scratching, and distorted vocal samples on tracks such as "Garfield."  But there's also a throwback party vibe on tracks such as "Breakdance Beach," and Aesop and Sonic trade call-and-response lines on many other songs.  Hail Mary Mallon is at its best when the MCs are involved in the same verses, but the group is careful not to overdo the trade-offs.

The album is an invigorating installment in each member's career, and it's another notable super-group to release something on Rhymesayers, which released the newest album by Felt (featuring production, in fact, by Aesop Rock).

Fucked Up: David Comes to Life (Matador)

Fucked Up: "The Other Shoe"

The latest from punk sextet / "social experiment" Fucked Up is another unexpected turn in an unpredictable career — an 18-song, 80-minute post-punk epic that tells a four-part narrative.

Adding to a litany of seven-inches and pair of LPs, David Comes to Life is far and away the band's hardiest release to date.  It's a punk-rock marathon that plays into punk's short attention span but that also demands patience, particularly when piecing together a narrative that shifts perspectives.

Musically, Fucked Up continues to come into its own, albeit with shades of The Who and other beloved practitioners of the rock opera.  The band's triple-guitar attack remains as aggressive and quasi-psychedelic as ever, but the gruff shouts of frontman Damian Abraham here are commonly backed by "real singers" whose softer intonations provide a pleasant contrast.

The album's 18 tracks have a tendency to blend together, but they benefit from their full-throttle delivery.  And though some listeners may have their patience tested by what essentially is a double LP of four-minute rock jams, preexisting fans should have one of their favorite albums of the year.

Týr: The Lay of Thrym (Napalm)

Týr: "Take Your Tyrant"

Based on the tiny Faroe Islands of the North Atlantic, Týr has made a name for itself with an infectious brand of folk/power metal.  The band's metal anthems, which are never short on overpowering melodies and harmonies, usually are a blend of traditional Scandinavian / Northern European folk tunes, with lyrics that touch on Nordic mythology, pagan pride, and heathen heroism.

The band's newest full-length, The Lay of Thrym, uses more Viking mythology as a thematic foundation, but it also expands the lyrical content, using some of its most fist-pumping sing-alongs to decry the remnants of Nazism and urge oppressed peoples to topple their dictators.

The music takes a similar course to the band's past catalog, but its melodic prowess and rhythmic fury are as potent as ever.  If you're not too cool for euphoric riffs and pop refrains, check this out.

Esmerine: La Lechuza (Constellation)

Esmerine: "A Dog River"

Begun in the early 2000s, Esmerine originally existed as the duo of percussionist Bruce Cawdron and cellist Beckie Foon, a pair of contributors to Godspeed! You Black Emperor, The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, and other members of Montreal's Constellation Records family.

The duo's sullen, minimalist chamber creations were built around cello, marimba, and other percussive elements, and though they expanded their range and emotion with other sounds, the band's first album in six years is a rebirth.  La Lechuza marks the addition of harpist Sarah Page and percussionist Andrew Barr (both of The Barr Brothers) as full-time members.  More importantly, however, it stands as a moving tribute to Montreal singer Lhasa de Sela, a mutual friend of all four members who passed away at the age of 37 on New Year's Day of 2010.

Each track on La Lechuza takes a life of its own, alternating between layered Steve Reich-ian repetitions, somber Danny Elfman-esque string arrangements, melodic polyrhythms, and ghostly vocal performances.  Special guests Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld (Arcade Fire) make appearances, and the result is the group's most most diverse, most skilled, and most beautiful release yet.

Honorable Mentions

Amorphis: The Beginning of Times (Nuclear Blast)

The Appleseed Cast: Middle States EP (Graveface)

Arch Enemy: Khaos Legions (Century Media)

BB&C (Tim Berne, Jim Black, Nels Cline): The Veil (Cryptogramophone)

Sarah Bernstein: Unearthish (Phase Frame)

Brent Hinds presents… Friend Without a Face: s/t & West End Motel: Don’t Shiver, You’re a Winner (Rocket Science Inc.)

Cults: s/t (Columbia)

The Engineer: Crooked Voices (Black Market Activities)

Ford & Lopatin (formerly Games): Channel Pressure (Software / Mexican Summer)

Infantree: Would Work (Vapor)

Jóhann Jóhannsson: Miner’s Hymns (Fat Cat)

Morbid Angel: Illud Divinum Insanus (Season of Mist)

Dustin O’Halloran: Vorleben (Fat Cat)

Oneida: Absolute II (Jagjaguwar)

The Rhythmagic Orchestra: s/t (Tru Thoughts)

Alina Simone: Make Your Own Danger (Virtual Label)

Sondre Lerche: s/t (Redeye)

Tea Leaf Green: Radio Tragedy (Thirty Tigers)

Tombs: Path of Totality (Relapse)

Trentemøller: LateNightTales compilation (LateNightTales)

Tom Vek: Leisure Seizure (Downtown / CO-OP USA / Island)

Keeping himself busy with a full-time gig at surf company Quicksilver, the East Coast native has spent the past six years building and establishing his lovechild, Screenin 4 A Change, which opened its first solo show on August 14, 2010 in North Hollywood. Screenin 4 A Change caters to the DIY punk and hardcore communities with designs featuring Modern Life is War, Fucked Up, and Paint it Black.

“All the bands I work with are really down to earth and awesome,” D’Elia says. “Even better, they are creating music that speaks to me and inspires me, so for the most part, my job is easy if I can connect with the music.”

Uncomfortable with the "graphic designer" label, D'Elia uses a hands-on, organic process with his prints before digitizing them for screen-print separation. “I really love collage work and hand-done typography, so I try to incorporate those elements wherever I can,” he says. Meshing together torsos, televisions, and anacondas to create cohesive — and somewhat disturbing — images is D’Elia’s trademark.

As a musician who has been in a string of bands, D’Elia knows the familiar feeling of flattery, and that’s exactly what he’d like to accomplish with his work. “I can remember being on tour in one of my old bands and rolling into some town I had never heard of to find that some kid made us posters 'cause he was pumped that we were playing," he says. "I want to give that feeling back to the next generation of kids going to shows and playing in bands.”

More of D’Elia’s work can be found on FocusOnTheNegative.Tumblr.com.

Poster Art is a biweekly column about today’s independent poster art and the artists who create it.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise: the band’s name, after all, is Fucked Up, and its members were collected deliberately as a group of guys who would not get along. Zucker and fellow guitarist Mike Haliechuk actually sat and racked their brains to come up with a group guaranteed to have serious issues. This is either the worst or the best idea for putting a band together that anyone has ever had. We’ll have to wait and see.

Regardless of the wisdom of the idea, the initial goal has been achieved: Fucked Up can’t stand each other. They will happily tell you so. (This is a refreshing departure from the usual shtick of bending over backwards to compliment your bandmates and what they “bring to the band.”) They haven’t been able to stand each other now for about a zillion singles and two full albums—for going on seven years and for much longer, in fact, than many bands that started out as best friends.

“It’s like that thing, you know, you gotta love something to let it go? We don’t love each other enough to let it go,” says Abraham. “Some people in the band really party, and some people really don’t party. So there’s that conflict. Some people in the band are really healthy, and some people want nothing more than to eat French fries all day. So there’s conflict there. There’s really no common ground.”

“Most bands form out of friendship, common musical taste, drive, ambition,” adds Falco. “This was done completely inorganically. It was like a social experiment.”

Naturally, they didn’t expect things to go this far. A deliberately fractious band? “That’s great if you’re just playing local shows,” says Abraham. “But here we are six years later, and we’re touring the world.” The original goal, as Abraham (a.k.a. Pink Eyes) describes it, was really just to play as many local shows as possible. According to Falco, the plan was even more limited: “Ten [shows] or less, never tour, hate each other, self-destruct.”

It’s worth mentioning here that the members of Fucked Up are also famously untrustworthy, hiding behind their many aliases (the band members go by Pink Eyes, 10,000 Marbles, Mustard Gas, Mr. Jo, and Concentration Camp, but also sometimes Father Damian, Slumpy, Laundry, Gulag, and Guinea Beat, and probably many more).

They have disseminated wild stories, such as the recurrent mentions of “David Eliade,” their possibly fictional manager/Svengali figure, whom they credit with both spiritual and professional guidance, but who no one seems to have ever seen. (They can, however, take things seriously. The most notable example of Fucked Up as a sober, businesslike entity is their ongoing lawsuit against Rolling Stone and Camel Cigarettes, who used the band’s name as part of an “indie universe” without permission.)

So when they—mostly Abraham—talk in a low-key, straightforward way about their creation, and about their intra-band troubles, one has to wonder. But they obviously do get along, at least some of the time. They’re currently all packed into a vegetable-oil-powered bus, touring the West Coast as part of the Fuck Yeah Tour, and everyone seems to be getting along fine.

As recently as 2006, Falco and Haliechuk were groomsmen at Abraham’s wedding. Most likely, Abraham is embellishing. He’s a myth-maker. These are not lies—and I would lay good money that they did in fact fight at Heathrow—but he knows what makes a good story.

The members of Fucked Up naturally are the main sources of information about their past and present, and they’ve made such a habit of spreading misinformation that now even the simplest facts about them are murky. Doubt creeps in everywhere. Undoubtedly, they were assembled in an unorthodox way; definitely, they’ve had their differences. But nothing about Fucked Up is simple.

Here is what we know. Fucked Up formed in 2001 in Toronto, in what was a surprisingly fertile hardcore punk scene. Haliechuk and Zucker added Falco, Abraham, and most recently, third guitarist Ben Cook to their volatile mix. They’ve cranked out a relentless series of singles and EPs over the years.

Their debut LP, Hidden World (Jade Tree), was generally seen as a big step forward for both Fucked Up and hardcore music. From a creative standpoint, things have gone consistently well for Fucked Up.

They also quickly developed a tendency to grab attention for many, many things other than their musical output. Fucked Up takes a shotgun approach to the art of provocation. Why aim? Just fire. See what you hit.

Obviously, there is the name. They’re not entirely alone in this territory: there’s Fuck, Fuck Buttons, The Fucking Champs, Holy Fuck, and Total Fucking Destruction, not to mention every FCC worker’s favorite, Anal Cunt, as well as the granddaddies of this particular family of band nomenclature, the Butthole Surfers. Even so, you place yourself in a smaller camp when you name your band Fucked Up.

It’s earned them attention as part of a phenomenon: both Slate and Exclaim have run articles on the implications of the F-word band names. The name has presented all kinds of challenges along the way. A gushing New York Times article could not even name the band, MTV resorted to calling them “Effed Up,” and numerous record distributors have refused to carry the albums.

And that’s not the worst of it, as Abraham explains: “I will tell you that at the border, when you have to tell the officer that you’re in a band called Fucked Up, you really start wishing that maybe you’d picked a different name.”

And then there is the fascist imagery. In the middle of the bewildering swirl of obscure references and hilarious lies that are constantly pouring out of this band, there were occasional comments about Nazi mystics. Some people took notice, and so, being true punks, Fucked Up responded by including a picture of a Hitler Youth rally in a later release.

There they’d found an old, familiar nerve. As a society, we still really, really don’t like Nazis. And the blurred lines in some minds between hardcore punk, skinheads, and out-and-out racists meant that it was easy to assume the worst about Fucked Up: that they used those images because they want to promote those ideas. (Abraham was even assaulted by someone who took things that way. They’ve since become friends.)

In fact, there isn’t much to the whole fascism “controversy.” It’s easy to see, in the course of conversation or even quick research of the band, that they’re not fascist, or promoting fascism, or any such thing. Their reasons for using fascist imagery may be complicated; Abraham tap dances skillfully on the topic, talking about the power of symbols, irony, etc., and Zucker, likewise, can talk about the end of Western culture and the effect of standing at Nuremberg.

And maybe it’s all true: maybe they had profound, artistic, intellectual reasons for their use of Nazi symbols. Or the reason could be simple: they like to cause trouble. With a couple of marks on a page, you can create a very hostile environment for yourself,” says Abraham. “And that’s what we did.” This is, after all, a band that named one release Baiting the Public.

Lead singer/bassist Johnny Bell shyly greets me at the bar, and we head downstairs, away from the soundcheck, in order to be heard. Sitting on a ratty couch littered with cigarette burns, I’m surrounded by the Antlers collective: guitarist Andrew King, organist Victor Rodriguez, drummer Kevin Stuart, percussionist Damian Edwards, and guitarist Errol Davis.

Half the guys are snoozing, and the others are waiting anxiously for food, which has been massively delayed. Water drips from the ceiling, and the couch is soaking wet in patches. Johnny plunks down next to me and wipes a hand over his face, his mane of brown hair a tangled mess.

I suddenly wonder how old these guys are, as everyone barely looks a day over 20. Thinking about the Antlers’ massive European tour, it occurs to me that I would make a lousy rock star. As the ceiling water drips on my notebook, smearing the ink of my questions, I realize that after only a few minutes of being in that basement, I want to go home. For the Crystal Antlers, there is no turning back.

“[If] you think this is bad, you should have seen the storm we caught in Madison last night,” Bell tells me in his soft-spoken cadence. “For some reason, I started thinking about when I did Sea Scouts a few years back. I was 15, and I worked on this old Coast Guard boat from the 1920s, and we did trips to all the different Channel Islands, delivering cargo.”

Bell pauses and someone lights up a cigarette.  “Was it like Deadliest Catch?” I ask. Everyone in the room laughs when I bring up the fishing documentary series.

“There were a lot of moments that felt like that, and it could get pretty scary,” Bell says. “I remember driving the boat at 4 a.m., after being up all night, and all the captains and everybody were asleep. The only tape we had on deck was Van Morrison’s Moondance, and I remember being up there in the captain’s chair, just rocking back and forth to Van Morrison.

"It was pretty surreal. I think about that a lot because I haven’t done anything like that in a really long time and I kind of miss it, even though being on tour is our life now.”

Following its self-released, eponymous EP in 2008, produced by The Mars Volta’s keyboardist Ikey Owens, the Crystal Antlers made quite a buzz in a short amount of time. The band's sound, a unique mix of psych fuzz and layered chaos, won it a spot on the Carson Daly Show.

“It was the first time in a long time that I almost just stopped playing because I got nervous,” guitarist King tells me with a laugh. “I took a minute and thought, ‘Wow, this is some pretty intense stage fright right now!’ I hadn’t felt that way since the junior-high-school talent show!”

The band quickly caught the attention of seminal indie label Touch and Go Records, making the Antlers the last band to be signed before the label announced an indefinite hiatus from distribution.

It’s hard to pin down the Antlers’ sound, a frantic hodgepodge of influences containing the idiosyncratic mania of The Mars Volta while not really sounding anything like it. The organ lends the sound a touch of bluesy psychedelia, yet the vibe is distinctively punk. When asked to describe the sound of the new record, Tentacles, Bell bristles. “I just don’t ever try and describe our sound,” Bell says. “I just ask people, ‘What do you think?’ Because I don’t really know what our sound is like.”

Tentacles was recorded at lightning speed. “We laid down the tracks and mixed the album in about a month,” Bell says. “We do work at a hectic pace. Originally, the idea was to go on tour a month before, and then go into the studio and hammer it out quickly but be really focused on it.

"It turned out to be a lot more intense than I thought it would be. Not all of the parts were finished beforehand, and it was just way more work than I expected. We hardly slept at all, especially in the last few days. I think Errol and I were only asleep for a few hours. We’d sleep on the floor, in the booth, with the engineer. We didn’t leave the studio for more than 15 minutes at a time for the entire week.”

For such a dense record, it’s amazing that the band was able to combine the challenging musical arrangements with aggravated intensity in such a limited time frame.

Law.com:

Noncommercial speech doesn’t lose its broad First Amendment protections even when it’s tucked into a thicket of advertising, California’s 1st District Court of Appeal held Thursday.

A unanimous three-justice panel dismissed a lawsuit against Rolling Stone magazine brought by a class of indie rockers. Led by bands Xiu Xiu and Fucked Up, the plaintiffs accused Rolling Stone of trading on the names of 186 groups listed in a five-page article to sell four pages of neighboring advertisements to R.J. Reynolds in the November 2007 edition.

The magazine’s so-called gatefold layout was intricate. The editorial piece “Indie Rock Universe” included colored-pencil-like graphics and the printed names of leading bands in the musical genre. The article was ensconced in four pages of ads featuring photographic collages that touted Camel cigarettes and the brand’s support of independent record labels.

It's worth pointing out that Fucked Up is still awesome, and Rolling Stone still sucks.

One of the Pitchfork Music Festival’s greatest triumphs is highlighting an independent-minded culture that goes beyond music with volunteer-staffed info-booths run by social action groups and non-profits, DIY clothing and gift vendors, 

The Flatstock art exhibit gathers some of the most innovative concert poster artists in the business,  not to mention the CHIRP Record Fair, where independent labels from around the country, record stores and collectors are able to sell their wares.

The focal point of this community, needless to say, is the music itself. But despite high pre-fest anticipation, and a wide-ranging cast of talent that combined emerging artists with long-time favorites including iconic Sunday-night headliner The Flaming Lips, as often as not, many would-be extraordinary moments were marred by sound problems or obscured by the claustrophobia-inducing crowds in the moderate-sized Union Park.

Although there was still plenty of fun to be had, it seemed likely that many artists that might blow someone over in a club setting had the odds stacked against them.  

Sam Barsh w/Jeff Parker @ Martyrs' (Chicago)

Chicago native Sam Barsh, the former keyboardist of the Brand New Heavies, returns home to lay down poppy, funky, electronically infused R&B/jazz tracks. Local standout jazz guitarist Jeff Parker (also of Tortoise) joins Barsh and drummer Mikel Avery for the festivities.

Friday, February 13

Cheer-Accident, D. Rider @ The Hideout (Chicago)

Twenty-three years after its first album, Chicago avant-garde rock ensemble Cheer-Accident puts out its first release on Cuneiform Records. The group draws from elements of prog rock, noise rock, chamber music, theatrical rock, and pop, and Fear Draws Misfortune, the newest offering, is many of these things, often in the same song.

Featuring guitarist Todd Rittman (ex-US Maple), local quartet D. Rider opens with a set of slinky, quirky, dirty rock numbers that incorporate piano, trumpet, and electronics.

Saturday, February 14

Fucked Up @ The Empty Bottle (Chicago)

Closing out its three-week US tour, punk/post-punk rabble-rousers Fucked Up play a pair of Valentine's Day shows in Chicago — first at AV-aerie, then at The Empty Bottle. We loved the group's newest album, The Chemistry of Common Life, placing it in ALARM's Top 10 Albums of 2008.

Sunday, February 15

Monotonix @ The Hideout (Chicago)

These Israeli throwback rockers make another trip to Chicago's Hideout, where the trio played the venue's Block Party last September. A Monotonix live performance is notoriously wild, so if you attend, be sure to wear clothes that you wouldn't mind having drenched in beer.

Meshuggah @ House of Blues (Chicago)

As this influential Swedish metal quintet makes its way across the country for a headlining tour, it stops at one of Chicago's biggest venues for the genre. The group is still touring on the success of obZen, the full-length that it released on Nuclear Blast last March.