The Monitor

Released

I heard this album for the first time when I was 18 and I really can’t think of a better age to discover it. The Monitor is Jersey punks Titus Andronicus’ second album, but every note is wrung out and hollered like it could be their last. Framing a breakup through the lens of getting really, really into the history of The American Civil War is a preposterous endeavor, but frontman Patrick Stickles weaves tales of melancholic self-loathing and paranoia with the same precision as the editors of a Ken Burns documentary. The songs are big, angry, tearful, with sections for any young person to exhume their heartache to — screaming along with “you will always/be a loser/you will always/be a loser” with the windows down going 70 on 17, ears ringing long after the acceptance is joyfully bellowed — “and that’s OK”.

Amelia Riggs

Suggestions
Fade cover

Fade

Yo La Tengo
Karate cover

Karate

Karate
Where You Been cover

Where You Been

Dinosaur Jr.
Hearts of Oak cover

Hearts of Oak

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Mortal cover

Mortal

Necrot
Never Enough cover

Never Enough

Public Access T.V.
Vampire Weekend cover

Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend
Inflammable Material cover

Inflammable Material

Stiff Little Fingers