Titus Andronicus
Local Business (XL)
Reviewed by Luke Winkie, Fri., Nov. 2, 2012
Titus Andronicus
Local Business (XL)Titus Andronicus plays it straight. Two years ago, the Jersey folk-punkers released the most epic indie rock album of the new millennium in The Monitor, a 65-minute barn burner utilizing an extended Civil War metaphor to chronicle a sour relationship. There are no horns, skits, or muskets on Local Business, a flagrant, fists-first rock & roll jaunt. Patrick Stickles' voice spits hoarse and brittle, his guitar likewise treated with razor blades. They bulldoze through the kerosene of "Ecce Homo," which sprawls into "My Eating Disorder," and bring it all home on "Tried To Quit Smoking." For a group that's already best known for its pregnant poetry, Local Business might initially feel like a letdown, but hearing a talented band throw off any towering aspirations to simply rock out is gratification in its purest form. Save the double album for 2014. (Sun., Yellow stage, 5:45pm)
