Because if you want the truth of it, One Day doesn’t sound at all like a record made in a hurry. From the expert arrangements of almost every song – the final act of opening track Found and the hide-and-seek guitar patterns of Broken Little Boys are particularly ear-catching – to the subtle melodies of Lords Of Kensington or Cicada, the overall effect is of an album over which its authors, under different circumstances, might have debated and argued for months on end.
To have pulled the whole thing together in a matter of hours is of course testament to a remarkable collective talent. Even under the self-imposed constraints of a ticking clock, Fucked Up do not huff and puff, or threaten to blow down the house. Much of the music is constructed with the careful precision of pop music. In fact, were it not for the sandpaper vocals of Damian Abraham, this would be an album that owes as much to pop as it does to punk.
Either way, though, One Day is a fearless from a band who punched the clock out cold.
Verdict: 5/5
For fans of: Drug Church, The Bronx, Biffy Clyro
One Day is released on January 27 via Merge
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