Fucked Up

Fucked Up captivated collectors in a non-conventional way by releasing several short vinyl-only 7″ singles.  These singles almost never came on colored or limited vinyl, and most followed the same layout with band name and title at the top.  What was cool and refreshing about all of this was the absence of pressing after pressing of wacky colored vinyl.  It was always black vinyl, and once you got one single, it seemed like there was already another one coming out.  It’s shocking that the band was able to grow so quickly with vinyl-only releases, with very little CD or digital download releases.  Nevertheless, there was obviously a method to their madness, and that method has been wildly successful in getting their music out there.  Fucked Up has gone on to release highly acclaimed full length “rock opera” type albums, culminating in Damian (vocalist) gracing the cover of SPIN magazine earlier this year (!!!), with “The Chemistry Of Common Life” touted as record of the year.  I still can’t believe that!  Good for them! Below is a documentation of all the different Fucked Up records that I ever had… I definitely never had everything, so this is absolutely not meant to be an exhaustive list of everything that’s out there!

Fucked Up – The singles….Here’s a view of my current collection of the early singles.  I’m missing some here and there… Some I never owned, and some I already sold – but I did take photos of most of them before I let them go!  The individual photos are shown further below.  Most of these singles were eventually released on the “Epics In Minutes” CD, which definitely made the band more accessible to those that don’t often have the time to throw vinyl on their turntables at home.  If you don’t have that CD, you should check it out – that’s definitely the easiest way to get into the early Fucked Up stuff.  You’ll notice that I stopped collecting Fucked Up singles once I got the “Crooked Head” 7″.  By this point the band was releasing full length albums, so it was easier to just buy the full length when it came out rather than pick up singles, even if they did have alternate versions or un-released b-sides.

Another angle of the singles.

Fucked Up – “No Pasaran” 7″The first Fucked Up single, “No Pasaran” on Deranged Records, is one of the only singles that doesn’t follow the usual cover layout.

Reverse side.

Fucked Up – “Police” 7″I’ve seen a couple different variations of the “Police” 7″. Some have the Deranged logo on the lower right hand corner (like this one) and printing on the inside of the glue pocket sleeve, but some don’t. Also, this copy has 2 different inserts, but I’ve seen others that only have one. I’m sure it’s just a result of Deranged re-pressing it a couple of times, but I don’t know which pressing is which.

The reverse side.

Fucked Up – “Baiting The Public” 7″This 7″ had two different versions on Deranged Records – this one, with the usual cover layout and headings at the top, and an alternate version. I think there were 500 of each, but I’m not sure if they re-pressed more of them and/or why they did it this way.

Back cover

Here’s the alternate version. Along with the original “No Pasaran” 7″, this is one of the few Fucked Up singles that doesn’t follow the usual cover design.

Fucked Up – “Dance Of Death” 7″Dance Of Death on Deranged Records.

Outside layout

Inside layout

Fucked Up – “Litany” 7″The original pressing on Test Pattern Records was on white vinyl, one of the only Fucked Up singles that was ever pressed on colored vinyl. Later it was re-released by Havoc Records. I think all Havoc pressings were black vinyl.

Very cool layout… The cover folds out into this big poster.

The inside is even cooler. I love this kind of collage/repetition stuff.

Fucked Up / Haymaker – “Split” 7″Two of Toronto’s best bands, Fucked Up and Haymaker, team up for a split 7″ on Deep Six Records. I believe the pressing info was only 200 on white vinyl.

Outside layout. Sketch.

Inside layout

These clear vinyl copies incorrectly have the labels reversed (FU labels on HM side, and vice versa). I believe these were 2nd press out of 500.

Fucked Up – “Generation” 7″There’s a couple of cool things about the Generation 7″ on Slasher Records. There is a version with small hole in the labels (shown above), and a version with the bigger 45 style hole (shown further below). I’ve heard there are 1,600 with small hole and only 500 with big hole, but I don’t remember where I saw that. This single was one of the only Fucked Up singles that had the text in color on the usual front cover layout (maybe the only one?). There was also a 12″ version of Generation, shown much further below when I get into the 12″/LPs.

Reverse side

Here’s the more rare “big hole” version.

Fucked Up – “Dangerous Fumes” 7″The “Dangerous Fumes” 7″ had a couple of different incarnations. This one on Deranged Records had the song “Teenage Problems” on the b-side. There was a pressing in Europe on Hate Records (shown further below) which has “Fixed Race” on the b-side. There was a Spanish version called “Humos Peligrosos”, but I never had that one. The band released some sort of “fake” version of Dangerous Fumes that was really something else (was this the one that is referred to as the “secret” 7″? I can’t remember now).

Reverse side

Some of the Fucked Up 7″ singles are printed on the inside of the pocket. Here’s the “Teenage Problems” image, printed on the inside of “Dangerous Fumes”.

The Euro version on Hate Records is the only Fucked Up single that has a black stripe at the top.

The black is continued on the back cover, and the insert is different from the Deranged version.

Fucked Up – “Black Army” 7″Sold on a Euro tour, “Black Army” was released as a set with “Black Cross” and had most of the songs from all the early Fucked Up singles. The labels were hand-written with random phrases.

The back side of the labels don’t have anything written on them.

Crust is glam, man.

Fucked Up – “Black Cross” 7″The other half of the Euro “Black Army/Black Cross” set, complete with hand-written labels.

Back side

“Suck a snow camel’s dick”. Uh huh.

Fucked Up – “Dolly Mixture” 7″The “Dolly Mixture” 7″ has Fucked Up covering a couple of Dolly Mixture songs, who I hear is a UK band from the 80’s? This was one of two 7″s in a set… The other one was the “Shop Assistants” 7″, but I never had that one. It featured covers of another UK band, The Shop Assistants. If I remember correctly, both 7″s were sold at the record release show for the first Fucked Up LP, “Hidden World”.

Back cover

Fucked Up – “Two Snakes” 7″The original pressing on Fucked Up Records. This was re-released a couple of times, and I know there was a Greek version, among others.

Outside layout

Inside layout. Gnarly head wound… From the mic?

Fucked Up – “Triumph Of Life” 7″Released as a single by Jade Tree Records shortly before the “Hidden World” LP came out. I believe they were all on pink vinyl. This is one of the only Fucked Up 7″s ever pressed on colored vinyl.

Reverse side

This was a UK version released on Peter Power / VICE Records… I heard there was only 60 on this pink-ish colored vinyl with UK tour cover? I don’t know if that’s true or not.

Fucked Up – “David’s Christmas” 7″I just couldn’t bear to ruin the “David’s Christmas” 7″ by opening it, so it’s still in pristine condition, complete with ribbon wrapped screen printed Fucked Up paper.

Fucked Up – “Year Of The Pig” US Version 7″The “Year Of The…” collection is usually released on 12″ format (shown further below), but “Year Of The Pig” was also released on a couple of different country-specific singles. This is the US version on What’s Your Rupture and Matador Records.

Back of the US version

Fucked Up – “Year Of The Pig” Japan Version 7″The Japanese version has different cover art, and of course, is written in Japanese characters. I think there is also a UK version of the “Year Of The Pig” single…

The back of the Japanese version.

Fucked Up – “Crooked Head” 7″This was a single off “The Chemistry Of Common Life”, released by Matador Records. This is where I stopped collecting Fucked Up singles because most of them were just songs that were available on the LP’s.

The reverse side of “Crooked Head” has the song “I Hate Summer” (no, this isn’t a different 7″, it’ just the back cover of “Crooked Head”).

Fucked Up – “Generation” 12″“Generation” was released on 12″ format as well, on Slasher Records. This copy came with the “DJ Sleeve” (black sleeve at top right), and I believe they were sold at Positive Numbers Festival? I didn’t buy this at the show myself, I got it in trade later. So I don’t know if these also came with a real jacket (but if so, why the DJ sleeve?), or if you could send away for a real jacket because they weren’t done in time, or if someone just threw a real jacket in with this copy somewhere along the way.

Back cover

Fucked Up – “Looking For Gold” 12″At one point, this 12″ was pretty highly sought after. I believe it was self released by the band and only sold on tour? It’s got some printed cardstock that is glued to a regular white jacket. The whole thing is done in a really DIY style with blank white labels on the vinyl, etc.

Back cover

Fucked Up – “Let Likes Be Cured By Likes” 12″If I remember correctly, this is mostly just live recordings? I don’t remember wanting to listen to this much. But, the screen printed clear vinyl with FU logo looks really sweet! It’s worth having just for that! I think these are 1st pressing out of only 300.

I really like the inside artwork on this one.

They kept repressing this one on ugly color combos, like this orange/blue split. I didn’t like it because it just didn’t fit with the rest of the band’s stark/simple imagery and black vinyl aesthetic.

Fucked Up – “Hidden World” 2xLPFucked Up’s first full length was released on Jade Tree Records, but Deranged Records was given the vinyl rights. I thought that was very cool since all the early Fucked Up singles had been on Deranged. I pre-ordered the LP from Deranged and received this copy with the FU logo stamped on the dust sleeves. I’m not sure if that makes them limited, or if they were all like this? This LP was unique for Fucked Up because it was the first time they’d really released anything that was more than just a couple of songs at a time, not to mention a a double LP!! The layout was also somewhat unique because it was pretty much the first time any FU release had used full/bright color.

Here’s a close-up of the stamp on the dust sleeve.

The outside of the gatefold layout.

The inside of the layout features some very detailed artwork. I dig it. It looks like some crazy Alice In Wonderland shit, haha. I like how the gatefold is all artwork, with the lyrics printed on a separate insert.

Fucked Up – “The Chemistry Of Common Life” 2xLPThis album was released to a much wider audience by Matador Records. Ultimately it paved the way for their next album on Matador, which would land them on the cover of SPIN magazine for album of the year (“David Comes To Life”, 2011)! So crazy! But I’m so happy for them. It’s awesome to see hard work pay off like that and have so many people appreciate your passion.

Layout outside

It’s nice to see that they continued with the “themed” layout, like they always did with their singles. This inner artwork follows the same path as the inside of the “Hidden World” LP.

Chemistry…

Fucked Up – “David Comes To Life” LPI actually never owned a copy of “David Comes To Life” on vinyl. But check out what SPIN magazine had to say about it, as album of the year for 2011: “One could argue (and we did, in our story on the band in the January-February issue!) that Fucked Up’s rock opera David Comes to Life was uniquely resonant upon its June release because of the emotional synchronicity between an album that spilled forth with such an appropriately chaotic narrative and a year in which tumultuous disarray became the norm. But good lord, David Comes to Life could’ve been sung in backwards Tagalog and it still would’ve made perfect sense in 2011. That’s the power of a gang of punks playing with Olympian levels of passion and purpose. Listen to David’s psychedelic fuzz-wave of guitars crest and break on “One More Night.” Feel Jonah Falco’s rocket-powered Ramones beat blast all 18 tracks forward. Absorb the bittersweet vocal guest spots from Kurt Vile, Cults’ Madeline Follin, and Jennifer Castle. Hear the sympathy, anger, love, and regret in frontman Damian Abraham’s intensely human roar. Yes, there’s a story — about the redemption of a beaten-down English factory worker — embedded in the ambitious, rambunctious Toronto sextet’s boundary-pushing songs, but it needs no explanation. Fucked Up have synthesized 40 years of rock into what’s ostensibly a hardcore record, and in doing so created its own logic. So bang your head. Beat your chest. Follow your heart. There’s the story — for this year or any other. D.M.”

Fucked Up – “Year Of The Dog” 12″Each year Fucked Up releases a new “The Year Of The…” 12″ to follow the Chinese Zodiac. They’re basically an extended single of sorts, with an epic song that covers the entire side of a 12″. “The Year Of The Dog” looks the coolest, because it’s the most DIY. It’s a blue piece of cardstock, with a small white slip sleeve that has metallic silver ink printed on it.

Here’s a close up of the cover and slip sleeve.

The reverse side is blank, as are the vinyl labels.

Fucked Up – “Year Of The Pig” 12″Year Of The Pig.

Layout is two separate pieces of 12″ cardstock printed on both sides.

Reverse side

Fucked Up – “Year Of The Rat” 12″Year Of The Rat. I have to admit that I lost track after this one. I never bought Year Of The Ox, Tiger, etc. They should do something crazy for this year – The Year Of The Dragon (2012)!

The back

V/A – “Generations” LP Compilation“Generations” features songs representing some of the best bands from this era of hardcore, including a Fucked Up track. My buddy, Bob Shedd, put together this compilation when he was handling most of the label duties at Revelation Records. He did such a sweet job, all the way down to patterning the layout after the original “NYHC: The Way It Is” LP comp. Like any classic compilation should, it accurately documents a snapshot in time of a particular generation of hardcore kids. What you see here is a test pressing plus a blue vinyl copy. There was also red vinyl pressed.

Cover and insert.

The back of the cover and insert.

My Fucked Up collection, at its peak…

• Fucked Up – No Pasaran (BLACK, 1st press, out of 900, Deranged Records)
• Fucked Up – Police (BLACK, Deranged logo on cover, printed inside and out, extra insert – “FUCK YOU MUNICIPAL PRICKS”, Deranged Records)
• Fucked Up – Police (BLACK, no Deranged logo on cover, Deranged Records)
• Fucked Up – Baiting The Public (BLACK, Fucked Up style cover, out of 500, Deranged Records)
• Fucked Up – Baiting The Public (BLACK, non-Fucked Up style cover, out of 500, Deranged Records)
• Fucked Up – Dance Of Death (BLACK, 1st press, out of 1000, Deranged Records)
• Fucked Up – Generation (BLACK, 1st press small hole, out of 500, Slasher Records)
• Fucked Up – Generation (BLACK, 2nd press big hole, out of 1600, Slasher Records)
• Fucked Up – Litany (WHITE, Test Pattern Records)
• Fucked Up – Litany (BLACK, Havoc Records)
• Fucked Up – Dangerous Fumes b/w Teenage Problems (BLACK, Deranged Records)
• Fucked Up – Dangerous Fumes b/w Fixed Race (BLACK, white stripe on top, 1st press German, Hate Records)
• Fucked Up – Dangerous Fumes b/w Fixed Race (BLACK, black stripe on top, 2nd press German, Hate Records)
• Fucked Up – Black Army (BLACK, “crust is glam!” hand-written on blank white labels, European pressing, Burning Sensation Records)
• Fucked Up – Black Cross (BLACK, “suck a snow camel’s dick” hand-written on blank white labels, European pressing, Burning Sensation Records)
• Fucked Up – Two Snakes (BLACK, FUR-006)
• Fucked Up – Triumph Of Life (CLEAR PINK, b&w UK Tour 2006 cover, I hear there’s only 60 of these, Peter Power / Vice Records U.K.)
• Fucked Up – Triumph Of Life (PINK MARBLE , Jade Tree)
• Fucked Up – Dolly Mixture (BLACK)
• Fucked Up – David’s Christmas (screenprinted wrapping paper un-opened, green ribbon intact)
• Fucked Up – Year Of the Pig (Japanese cover)
• Fucked Up – Year Of the Pig (UK cover)
• Fucked Up – Crooked Head (BLACK)
• Fucked Up / Haymaker – Split (WHITE, 1st press, out of 200)
• Fucked Up / Haymaker – Split (CLEAR, out of 500)
• Fucked Up – Let Likes Be Cured By Likes (CLEAR silk-screened b-side, 1st press, out of 300)
• Fucked Up – Let Likes Be Cured By Likes (yellow/orange split vinyl)
• Fucked Up – Looking For Gold (RARE, self-released by band, out of 300)
• Fucked Up – Generation (Black DJ sleeve with sticker)
• Fucked Up – Hidden World 2xLP (black vinyl, stamped inner dust sleeve)
• Fucked Up – The Chemistry Of Modern Life 2xLP (BLACK, 180 gram vinyl)
• Fucked Up – Year Of The Dog (BLACK)
• Fucked Up – Year Of The Pig (BLACK)
• Fucked Up – Year Of The Rat (BLACK)
• V/A – Generations LP Compilation (TEST PRESS, out of 42)
• V/A – Generations LP Compilation (BLUE, out of 550)