David Comes to Life

To paraphrase what someone, somewhere, that I now totally forget, once famously stated, “If Sgt. Pepper is a concept album, please explain the concept.” This 2011 opus from Canadian hardcore darlings Fucked Up leaves no such guesswork to the listener. David and Veronica are young commies in Thatcher-era England, stars of a loud, lovely, caressingly aggressive opera of melody and rebellion bound to unravel along the same lines as their off-angle narrative about what’s happening between them and in the world that surrounds their young, nihilistic naiveté. David Comes to Life cemented Fucked Up’s status as national treasures, whether or not all of its members were as happy with that as the critics were.