In 2011, Toronto’s Fucked Up delivered an album that chafed the edges of punk rock’s conceptual boundaries – a set of songs that splayed freely into unexpected instrumentation, psychedelic drift, and situationist philosophy. Its ambition was limitless and its run time opulent. Which is to say, they made a concept album.
On December 10th, Matador Records / Remote Control Records will celebrate the 10th anniversary of Fucked Up’s titanic 78-minute early ’10s masterpiece, David Comes to Life, with a limited-edition 2xLP reissue on lightbulb-yellow vinyl.
Listen to ‘The Truest Road,’: drawn from a rarities LP that will be announced later this year. The compilation David’s Town – a companion to David Comes to Life, previously available only on vinyl – has also been made available on streaming for the first time ever.
David Comes To Life is a story of lost love, global meltdown, depression, bombs, guilt and madness. Or is it? A modern-day morality tale set amid the dour backdrop of a British industrial town in the late ’70s, it’s a four-part play that follows the dark moods and inner psyche of the titular hero. At the same time, the reliability of the narrator gets called into question. The tables are turned, responsibility shifts, and the story goes meta.
Of course, you could always ignore the backstory and just listen to a fiercely imaginative double album of blistering, melodic rock’n’roll shot through with all manner of psychic weirdness.
The reissue serves as the latest entry in Matador Records’ Revisionist History series, our ongoing campaign to jog the record-buying (and streaming!) public’s memory about our many catalog items now poised to celebrate a significant anniversary.
Over the course of the year, Matador will mark these anniversaries with new reissues and re-pressings. Each release will be accompanied by rare live footage, unreleased music, photos, and videos.
Find more information on the Revisionist History series HERE.