Titus Andronicus Promises Rock

(Not Pies Made of Family Members)

 In March, Titus Andronicus released their second album The Monitor, receiving positive reviews from the likes of Pitchfork, The Guardian, Paste, and Rolling Stone, amongst others. They have been touring almost non-stop since the beginning of the year in support of the album, and the quintet, consisting of Ian Graetzer (bass guitar), Eric Harm (drums, percussion, vocals), Amy Klein (guitar, violin), David Robbins (keyboard, guitar), and Patrick Stickles (lead vocals, guitar, harmonica), brings their sprawling, intelligent rock to Buffalo on Tuesday. 

The Monitor is an ambitious album, teeming with classic rock references, presidential quotes, bagpipes, strings, sing-along anthems, Civil War imagery and philosophical questions that don't get answered so much as experienced. At the core of the hour-plus disc is the struggle to define individual identity by creating an enemy and opposing everything about them. Utilizing the Civil War as a metaphor, the modern themes of this untenable negative definition sprawl out of songs about returning to a post-industrial town, and facing old friends, responsibility, and the distractions found along the way. Stickles sounds like an angrier early Paul Westerberg, screaming and singing at the center of the band's brutal, thrashing guitars, and otherwise violent instrumentation.

Titus Andronicus has cultivated a reputation for high-energy, rowdy live shows that capture and intensify the energy of their records. Boston-based Hallelujah the Hills will be playing a set, and some members will join Titus Andronicus on stage as additional players. Buffalo's own The Failures Union will open, making this show a must see.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 at Ninth Ward
For more information visit:
Titus Andronicus
Hallelujah the Hills
The Failures Union

Tickets are $13.00, and are available at all Tickets.com outlets including Tops Markets, Babeville box office (M-F, 11am - 5pm), and online at tickets.com.