Fucked Up’s New Album One Day: Blending Punk Spontaneity with Prog Rock Meticulousness

Written by Zoe Tevyaw, Photography by Jeaninne Kaufer

Toronto-based group Fucked Up released 6th studio album One Day on Friday, January 27th. The group, having come up in the Canadian hardcore punk scene, has managed to evade being pinned down by an easily definable sound or genre throughout their several decades of releases. The group draws on a wide variety of inspirations, with tropes across many genres and subgenres heard in this newest record working alongside each other to embolden the unique Fucked Up noise.

Outside of their more expected – yet never generic – studio albums, Fucked Up also has a running nine-album “Zodiac Series,” all named for the Chinese mythology. These releases all venture into deeper, more experimental places with ambient and psychedelic areas. The group truly refuses to dedicate themselves to one single lane, seemingly instead preferring to allow musical representation to grow from conceptual ideas. The group’s strategy for One Day is hidden in its own name: it was written in 24-hours. 

Now, this was not one 24-hour period – but no member had any longer than that during the songwriting process. Guitarist Mike Haliechuk wrote much of the record in three 8-hour sessions (totalling the first 24 hour mark), with the other members writing and adding their parts to the tracks remotely, following the same time constraint. This spontaneity is evident in the tracks, yet the sense of cohesion that remains consistent is an amazing feat of the band’s longevity and like-mindedness.

With this in mind, it’s easier to understand the juxtaposition between One Day and their last few years of releases. As opposed to the long-form exploration heard in Dose Your Dreams and various Zodiac records, One Day provides 40 minutes of punchy realism and straightforwardness across its 10 songs that try to combat the foreboding changing of the times with the importance of the present moment. Pitchfork, in addition to its 7.5 rating, sums this up well: “One Day kicks plenty of ass on a moment-to-moment level.”

The first track “Found” sets this tone well, offering listeners various twists and turns within a sonically fascinating layering of harmonies amongst both melodic and screaming lead vocals all over top piercing guitar lines and an incredibly high-energy rhythm section. What follows is an action-packed 9 more songs with the palpable urgency of the time constraints yet such a clear vision and significance that plays right into it.

One Day feels like an explanation of genre within the modern hardcore and progressive spheres while still remaining digestible for the pop punk and midwestern emo listeners that might want to dip their toes into something just a bit more complex. The album is available to listen to everywhere.