Reining in youthful angst and passion can be difficult. Luckily for us, Titus Andronicus’ seem to know this, and thanks to their multi-genred approach and ability to self-edit, their sophomore effort, The Monitor, is a stunning success.
Centred around the theme of the American Civil War, the album is suitably grieving, angry and confused, but like well-trained soldiers, the band never lose the plot: they are out to make an album here, and by ensuring its emotional connection through short, effective snippets of Civil War-related recordings, and its flow by crafting multi-layered, restless epics that cover all the emotional territory one might associate with the Civil War, they’ve done a shockingly good job.
The Monitor is equal parts punk, shoegaze and country, and by infusing these genres with the added shambolic grace of indie rock and the lamenting stumble of the blues, Titus Andronicus evoke a stirring mental portrait of life as a civil war soldier. Album cuts like the harmonica-featuring, group vocals-aided “Four Score and Seven” and the album’s best track, blistering-guitar opener “A More Perfect Union” are lengthy (7-8 minutes apiece), but not excessive, making for an album that takes the listener the full journey without exhausting them.
The only stray shot on the album is fourteen-minute closer “The Battle Of Hampton Roads,” not because it’s not a quality song, but that the album feels complete without it. Its gigantic, bagpipe-laden ending alone makes the track worthy of listening to, but, at nearly fifteen minutes, the track could have, and really should have, been its own EP.
Still, Titus Andronicus’ The Monitor is an overwhelming success that should strike chords with a wide range of independent music listeners without the band sacrificing an ounce of their edginess or commitment to making music that’s as affective as it is adventurous.
