Year of the Pig

Album Review

Taking their name to heart, F****d Up's umpteenth release (somewhere around number 60) is so unconventional that it is pretty much impossible to categorize. Not only does the band once again defy genres, but F****d Up make it hard to determine whether this is an LP, an EP, or a maxi-single. Certainly the band's second record based on the Chinese zodiac is long enough that Year of the Pig could be considered an album, but since the eight-song CD is based around an epic 18-minute song that is wedged into the track listing four times in various incarnations, it's not exactly a disc to be played from start to finish. The titular song starts as a sweetly sung chamber pop piano ditty concerning the dilemmas of Canadian sex workers chirped by Jennifer Castle. Around the two-minute mark, the mood switches suddenly when bald bruiser Pink Eyes barges onto the scene and lets loose some gravelly roars that could bring to mind Lee Ving getting stabbed with a butter knife or an outraged Captain Caveman. These jolting shifts from weightless pop to scathing violence happen enough times that a Krautrockian prog jam interlude and awkwardly transitioned fist-pumping outro seem kind of matter-of-fact by the song's completion. It's hard not to admire their ambition and their ability to puzzle-piece together parts that really have no business adjoining one another. Their originality in doing so makes the lumbering beast of a medley an exhausting triumph, and truly one of a kind. First-timers should get their feet wet with 2006's Hidden World, but those seeking more adventurous music will enjoy the offerings on this disc, including "Anorak City," a grungy rollick that mimics the sunshine sentiments of the Ramones' "Rockaway Beach," and is probably the first punk song ever to include a violin. [Three 7" records have been released: a U.S. copy with" Year of the Pig (US Edit)" and "Mustaa Lunta"; a U.K version with " Year of the Pig (UK Edit)" and "Anorak City"; and a Japanese version with "Year of the Pig (Japanese Edit)" and "For My Friends."]