Four Score and Seven Drinks Ago

The Monitor, the second album from Titus Andronicus, reaffirms my belief they're something akin to what would've happened if Conor Oberst had fronted Flogging Molly and they'd been signed to IRS in the early 80s. In an album that doubles as (1) a history lesson on the Civil War and (2) an advertisement for whiskey, our boys from suburban New Jersey come barreling back right from where their debut left off, drenched in glorious ragged vitriol and whatever’s on draft. In a feat rarely attempted since R.E.M.’s Fables of the Reconstruction they turn to mid-1800s America for inspiration, weaving a caustic tale of the Civil War as seen, presumably, through the eyes of a drunken college dropout.

The themes this time around are perhaps a little more ambitious but no less despondent. In a surprisingly well-played parody on the original king of NJ grime rock, the youths belt out, “’Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to die!” All over the album, such self-loathing hyperboles are the mainstays of the gripping anthems. They’re big, dumb, and beautiful; one can’t help but to adore.

All in all, it’s quite a marvelous album. The hang-up on their high school literature classes continues to mix well with the fuck-it-all barstool punk; hijacking Shakespearian drama I suppose is the best way to sell teenage rants about hating the world and such. It’s over the top, but why stop there? Excess is a beautiful thing, if The Monitor has anything to do with it.

Here is the first track from the album performed live last year.