Titus Andronicus: Born to Run Out of New Jersey

There’s something about Jersey that people who aren’t from there can’t understand.  I know, because I’m not from Jersey, but when I listen to albums like The Monitor by Titus Andronicus, I begin to wish that I was.  The longing to get out of Jersey,  but to not get that far away, which spills over in nearly every song I’ve ever heard by this band. Frankly, and you’ll notice this isn’t much of a stretch, and the whole affair is very reminiscent the original desperate Jerseyan: Bruce Springsteen.

What sets Titus Andronicus apart from other bands like The Hold Steady and Arcade Fire–unabashed worshipers at the altar of The Boss–is the fact that the members have spent their lifetimes drinking the same water, and looking at the same smoggy horizon that teases a glimpse of New York City.

Maybe I’m romanticizing this, but all the people from New Jersey I’ve ever met are seemingly linked by something intangible. It is almost like their home state makes them a minority group, one that gets shit on by the New Yorkers and other East Coasters, but somehow has managed to produce some of the greatest rock n’ roll albums I’ve ever heard.

If I’m right about Jersey being some holy land of rock, then I feel like The Monitor is an extremely special occasion, as it’s a rare album that I can listen to while proclaiming that this band deserves to be huge.  On Titus Andronicus’ sophomore album –the one usually reserved for “growing pains”– the band has walked up to the plate, and delivered an epic and emotionally complex home run record.  It’s an obvious homage to the band’s heroes, like Billy Bragg, The Pogues, and The Boss.  Somehow, the concept of living in modern New Jersey-imagined-as-the Civil War, works.

I’m in no position to comment much further.  I’m not going to try and understand what makes people from New Jersey so damned special.  I’m just going to listen to The Monitor, and bask in the fact that even though this band is from the state I’ve babbled about for god knows how many words, and that Titus Andronicus has given me good reasons to believe that this generation has found their answer to The Replacements.

We are honestly all better people for that.  No matter where we come from.

Titus Andronicus | MySpace Music Videos