Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Titus Andronicus are Civil War Buffs


Not only is Titus Andronicus one hell of a band, they've written the press release of the year. I posted the best bits of it...and if more press releases were like this I think the music industry would still be thriving. Maybe.

The New Jersey indie rock band Titus Andronicus has recorded a new album, a follow-up to our 2008 (2009?) release, The Airing of Grievances. This new album, The Monitor, will see release thanks to our friends at XL Recordings on March 9th, 2010, the 148th anniversary of the Battle of Hampton Roads, wherein the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia entered into their epic struggle off the coast of Virginia.

The Monitor is more or less a "concept album" – that is to say, it uses the American Civil War of 1861-1865 as an extended metaphor for the concerns addressed in a somewhat linear narrative. In said narrative, our hero leaves his humble birthplace of New Jersey - the oppressive and stifling qualities of which were discussed ad nauseam about one album ago – for the greener pastures of Boston, Massachusetts s. His thesis – "the enemy is everywhere" – is put to the ultimate test as he pontificates on the topics of regional identity, emotional anesthetization, and the heavy yoke of trying to live decently in indecent times. All the while, he is forced to wonder whether said American Civil War was truly won or lost, or even completed. Will he find the supportive environment and like-minded compatriots he dreams of? Or will he be forced to leave his newly adopted home in ideological disgrace? What does it mean to be an American in 2009 anyway?

Blah blah blah Springsteen blah blah blah beer blah blah blah beard blah blah blah Shakespeare yadda yadda yadda Seinfeild blah blah blah Conor Oberst in a vat of acid blah blah blah books.

The Monitor will be available as a compact disc or as a double vinyl LP, both with gorgeous artwork by Nolen Strals, vocalist of Double Dagger and co-author of the recently published textbook, Lettering and Type, or in regular old MP3 format, featuring no gorgeous artwork at all.

Download: Four Score and Seven Part One
Download: Four Score and Seven Part Two

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