titus andronicus // "upon viewing oregon's landscape with the flood of detrius"

by jared silva
03.20.12

It was at their SXSW show this past week that the New Jersey native indie punk rockers Titus Andronicus had a little extra special something with them for those who showed up: 200 ripped CDs with a copy of their first mixtape, Titus Andronicus LLC Mixtape Vol 1. The mixtape (which thankfully was put online yesterday by the band via their personal Tumblr) includes a wealth of outtakes, demos, and covers — some of which include Weezer, Thin Lizzy, Velvet Revolver, and Television Personalities — spanning the past 7 years. One special track included in the 23-song mixtape was the premier of their latest single “Upon Viewing Oregon’s Landscape With the Flood of Detritus” set to appear of a 7″ split with their opening tourmates Diarrhea Planet.

The song starts out with a thumping bass drum to set the beat, then slowly builds up into an uproar with the punk rock essentials of booming drums, thick bass, and rhythmic guitar riffs. The song doesn’t veer too far away from the typical Titus track: it’s fast paced, rambunctiousness, and punk as hell, but still well structured so it  isn’t a destructive mess. The familiarity is not a bad thing either, it just shows how well they work with what they know best. Lead singer Patrick Stickles’ signature grating howls dominate the track and seem to only get fiercer as the track goes on. He also gets some backup assistance from Alex Levine of the So So Glos, adding a sense of depth to the vocals as they tell a tale about rebel rejects visiting Oregon only to receive the same rejection from whence they came: “Cuz just like me they remain to be / thrown away / thrown away.” Complete with a tinge of Celtic punk guitar riff and Oi Oi Oi’s, “Upon Viewing Oregon’s Landscape…” plays loud and proud to be punk rock, making for a pretty rad song fitting perfectly within the Titus collection.

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Download Titus Andronicus LLC Mixtape Vol 1 now via Tumblr.

Listen to more from Titus Andronicus now, via Spotify.