Titus Andronicus Prove Never Short On Audacity Via Amped Up ‘The Will To Live’ (ALBUM REVIEW)

Past releases from Titus Andronicus have included, an overblown triple album punk opera based around depression (The Most Lamentable Tragedy) and a brilliant pairing of New Jersey millennial malaise and Civil War reckoning (The Monitor), thus proving they are never short on audacity. Main man Patrick Stickles digs into that adventurous spirit again, amping it all up to 11 for The Will to Live, as Titus Andronicus are on a quest for “ultimate rock” throughout the band’s seventh studio album. 

Using none other than Born in the USA as an aspirational touchstone, Stickles and core band (Liam Betson on guitar, R.J. Gordon on bass, and Chris Wilson on drums) decamped to Montreal to record with Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Leonard Cohen, The Whole Nine Yards). Gone from the group are the lo-fi punk tendencies which reappeared on their previous release The Obelisk, now their sites are set clearly on arenas and the big time. The album has a loose thematical theme around dualities but works best when the crashing riffs and soaring choruses stand alone.  

The opening “My Mother Is Going to Kill Me” instrumentally sets the mood with huge solos and building rhythms after cats screeching and siren wails start the proceedings. The dynamite first single “(I’m) Screwed” blasts with power, background vocals, and huge guitar soloing before the piano swaggering of “I Can Not Be Satisfied” confidently provides “sha-nah-nah” singing and a Who-like tone, beginning the album with a very strong run of tunes. 

Stickles has added Celtic flare to his songs for years now and that vibe infiltrates the first extended set-piece, “Bridge and Tunnel”. A George Bernard Shaw-like play rolls out around banging piano, percussion and bass before a haunting female vocal/piano break and huge theatrical finale with slashing guitars. 

Never short on words or thoughts, the descent into hell of the album’s narrator at the center of the record runs on too long. The instrumental “Grey Goo” is pointless while “Dead Meat” is the rawest, jarring punk before “An Anomaly” discusses God’s creation of the devil (and man) but runs on and on, clocking in at over seven minutes.   

Much better is the ascent back to earth, starting with a very Bruce Springsteen-inspired “Give Me Grief” that effortlessly swings with brass backing the upbeat, grooving rock. “Baby Crazy” finds Stickles returning to his cramming/rambling lyrical ways around 50’s rock/punk vibes before the galloping “All Through the Night” delivers huge cathartic singalongs with Tad Kubler (The Hold Steady) contributing killer riffs.  

The pub rocking punk prominently returns on the band’s banging cover of Cock Sparrer’s, soccer chanting “We’re Coming Back” which fits the current Titus Andronicus style like a spiked fingerless glove, before the piano ballad “69 Stones” sums things up as a direct epilogue. Like most of Stickles’ efforts, some editing would help tighten the flow of the record, but as it stands, The Will to Live is a success with Titus Andronicus channeling their punk core straight into the arena rock rafters.

Related Content

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

New to Glide

Keep up-to-date with Glide

Twitter