Eagleionline

The Monitor

My devoted fan will remember that The Airing of Grievances inched its way into the top ten on my list of best albums of the aughts. So it should come as no surprise that The Monitor, Titus Andronicus’ sophomore album was one of my most anticipated albums of the year (joining the ranks of The Arcade Fire, The National, Future Islands, and the Raekwon, Ghostface, Method Man collaboration). My knee jerk reaction to the album was disappointment; however, on subsequent listens I have really come around to it, and thoroughly enjoy the album. And why shouldn’t I? Lead singer Patrick Stickles seamlessly combines two of my favorite things in his lyrics: self-deprecation and pretentiousness.

The album opener “A More Perfect Union” is the most epic Civil War song since Guns n’ Roses’ aptly named “Civil War.” It opens with a quote from Abraham Lincoln, and ends 7 minutes later with a William Lloyd Garrison quote. The lyrics combine images of taking the Fung Wah bus from New Jersey to Boston, with Civil War allusions. As a Jersey band, they of course pay homage to the Boss in the lyrics, but in the dark Titus Andronicus way. “I’m looking for a new New Jersey. ‘Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to die.” They also include, in a classic pretentious form, a reference to the Union Marching Song “John Brown’s Body.” (“When they hang Jeff Davis from a sour apple tree, I will sit below the leaves and weep”). The album is packed with references to the Civil War, slavery, modern disillusion, loneliness, unparalleled hatred. 

The album title itself refers to the Yankee ironclad ship that defeated the Confederate Merrimack in the Battle of Hampton Roads (which happens to be the title of the epic 14 minute closer on the album, which also mentions Bruce Springsteen). The Civil War is used throughout as an allegory for both an “Us vs. Them” mentality and internal conflict. Patrick Stickles is certainly not lacking internal conflicts. In an interview, he explained what he saw as an end to this “Us vs. Them” mentality: “The first nine or so songs on the record are about trying to shift the blame to someone else for my own misery.” He continues: “ultimately, in this life, whatever kind of tranquility you can have, I feel, comes from responsibility — just freeing ourselves from the natural inclination to look for scapegoats.” In the first song, Stickles leaves New Jersey to try and solve this internal conflict and heed his own advice in Boston. By the last song however, he returns to Jersey “as much of an asshole as [he’s] ever been.”

Stickles has always had a penchant for delivering bleak and macabre lines in a catchy manner that belies the underlying message. On their first album, one of the catchiest parts comes when he is yelling “F*** everything, F*** me.” And that ability is certainly not lacking on this album. One of the best examples comes in “A Pot in Which to Piss,” in which blues piano and distorted guitars make the statement “You were never a virgin kid, you were f***ed from the start,” so much more palatable. Similarly in “Richard II,” Stickles sings “there is only one dream that I keep close, and it’s the one with my hand at your throat.” The entire album is replete with angry, disillusioned imagery about the current state of humanity. 

The reason The Monitor was not immediately appealing to me comes down to one simple fact, Titus Andronicus had more money to spend on production for this album than their last. The lo-fi, often sloppy shoegaze feel that accompanied the punk rock undertones and angst-laden lyrics of The Airing of Grievances was muffled on this album. This is exemplified in “Richard II” in which Stickles’ gravelly voice is so produced that it sounds eerily similar to Conor Oberst at one point, which makes me cringe a little bit. This production adds a different layer to The Monitor though: the guttural screams, tortured vocals, and intense imagery are made all the more poignant by how much they stand out from the more produced backdrop. In sum, it is a sprawling, esoteric, self-indulgent angst fest, but it is accompanied by impressive, distorted guitars, maudlin pianos, and a kind of introspective hatred that only New Jersey can give someone. It is just a solid album.