Titus Andronicus: The Monitor

(XL)

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For a band of 20-somethings to create a concept album about the Civil War seems ridiculous at first, said Rob Mitchum in Pitchforkmedia.com. But that’s what Titus Andronicus has done, and it turns out to be “ridiculously fun.” The Monitor kicks off with a recitation of an Abraham Lincoln speech declaring that “as a nation of free men, we will live forever or die by suicide.” From there, the band fires away on a rollicking journey through a version of history filled with blazing anthems, “rousing sing-alongs,” and “celebrations of binge drinking.” The New Jersey natives use the Civil War as a metaphor for the trials and tribulations of their own lives, said Will Hermes in Rolling Stone. “History and modern anxiety morph into freedom songs” for our own nervous times. Frontman Patrick Sickles yelps, “Tramps like us, baby we were born to die!” a nod to fellow Garden Stater Bruce Springsteen. But for a band with this much grit, hope is never lost.