With a sneering sense of self-remorse and bratty instincts, Titus Andronicus reaffirms the notion that growing up is, at times, completely overrated. The quintet of barely 20-somethings sports a sniping sense of self-criticism in a series of compelling, breakneck punk-meets-indie anthems. The result is the appropriately titled The Airing of Grievances, an album invested in spotlighting the dirty laundry on the backyard wire, all the while shredding with some restless, guitar-driven tracks.
Titus lies somewhere between Johnny Rotten and Desaparecidos-era Conor Oberst, dabbling in self-deprecation with a snarl and a growl. Frontman Patrick Stickles lets loose an agonizing wail, admitting that “There is nothing I've ever done I didn't learn to be ashamed of” on the shoegaze/punk-influenced “Joset of Nazareth’s Blues”. That attitude resonates throughout the disc, establishing a near-tangible air of self-loathing that could put any emo songster to shame. “Fuck everything, fuck me!” shouts Stickles, encapsulating the album’s primary theme with a simple, off-path vocal line.
While fueled by Oberst-like crooning, the backbone of the band is structured on impatient, sloppy bar punk songs that inspire raised fists and chugged beers. The opener, “Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ”, teases the listener with a down-tempo intro, only to break into Titus’s sense of fist-pumping, reverb-heavy anthem-based rock soon thereafter. “Arms Against Atrophy” is a rousing tune that shows a multitude of dynamics for a linear indie-punk song. Many of the tracks could be mistaken for live recordings, utilizing a sloppy, rough mix that perfectly coincides with the band’s unpolished edge.
What sets The Airing of Grievances apart is two stellar late-album tracks: “Titus Andronicus” and “No Future”. “Titus Andronicus” laments over a hopeless existence where “They’ll be no more cigarettes/No more having sex/No more drinking ‘til you fall on the floor”. It’s the anthem that most encapsulates the group, a self-conscious, hand-clapping foray into poppy gang vocals mixed with violent Sex Pistols bravado. “No Future” shows a subtle range for the group, using a 1970s blend of hazy six-strings and modern shoegaze that unleashes a viciously catchy guitar riff. Stickles sings “There is not a doctor/That can diagnose me” as the band winds itself into a climaxing bar-rock opus.
It’s not that Titus Andronicus is wallowing in its overly-emotive youth, but the band is admonishing the future for fear of replicating a party-heavy, error-prone past. Plagued with self-doubt and regret, Stickles and company have given up on apologies and self-correction, instead sending a middle finger to…well, everybody, including themselves. The result is a reckless band that no longer cares about anything but speedy rhythms, scratchy vocals, and a filthy-basement-show ethos. Titus Andronicus may have a lot to be sorry for, but The Airing of Grievances, a grimy, rock-saturated gem of an album, surely isn’t it.
