As someone who writes about music every single day of her goddamn life, I’ve listened to a lot of albums. I hear good ones. I hear bad ones. I hear meh ones. But it’s rare that I hear something that completely floors me, that throws me into an existential loop so constant I have to periodically turn it off just to be safe. Fuckaine’s debut album is that album for me. It’s an album I immediately labeled essential. I labeled it breathtaking. I labeled it favorite.
From the moment it kicks off—“Cristales”’ blaring riffs competing with one another—you feel how much thought went into the production of Totally Contagious. Every track is deafening and dire to the point of madness. Just listen to “Hooray,” suffused with punk licks, metal energy, and oh ahs. “Get Fit” is ambitious and impressively all over the place in a way that reminds me of Battles’ work. “Playground” sounds like an underbelly and “Sun Goes Down” is equal parts pleasant and eerie, a surprising way to close out such an eclectic and loud collection.
Fuckaine was formed by Tábata Pardo and Fran Meneses, with some percussion help from Jota Armijos. You can listen to Totally Contagious below and C=heck out their totally awesome teaser for the album below, featuring Emilio Estevez, Ace Ventura, Harry Dunne, and John Connor.
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(Photo by Alina Lakitsch)
Download Fuckaine’s Totally Contagious below: