Big Ups 'Two Parts Together' (ALBUM REVIEW)

Brooklyn rabble-rousers Big Ups return with their storming third album Two Parts Together – a fitting title given that the record is one part crystal clear waters, one part tsunami-scale tidal wave.

Whether the transition is abrupt and clear-cut, pivoting on two cavernous drum hits as in the powerhouse title track, or more gradual and considered as in the ebb and flow of ‘In The Shade’, there is rarely any standing still on the album. Instead the band thrash out anxious post-hardcore riffs marshalled by Joe Galarraga’s vocals which see-saw dangerously from a husky mutter to a full-blooded urgency – if there is one perfect aspect about Big Ups, it is how well-suited Galarraga’s voice is to the semi-hypnotic Fugazi-esque sound they cook up.

Lead single ‘PPP’ is phenomenally muscular, running the Big Ups gamut of light and shade and bursting into a deceptively heavy chorus which sails close to the spontaneous weight of At The Drive-In. This track, followed by eerie interlude ‘Tenmile’ presumably way of a mid-record warm down, shows off each side of the Big Ups sound to its fullest, where elsewhere one part gets to dominate – this is the case on mesmerising second single ‘Fear’, a delicious slow-burner which even at the point of ignition retains a genuine musicality even as Galarraga’s vocals push to the point of breaking. ‘Tell Them’ is a close-knit riffer with more than a little swagger, a gradual run-up to an explosive outro, and ‘Trying To Love’ follows suit with its enthralling guitar line and deeply menacing drum-led middle section.

And if you think about it, it is only fitting that the record closes with a five-minute punisher and ‘Imaginary Dog Walker’ certainly fits that bill. Where ‘PPP’ is a perfectly balanced demonstration of each facet of the surprisingly complex Big Ups sound, ‘Imaginary Dog Walker’ blows each up to an almost cartoonish extreme, dropping close to silence in the middle before crashing back in like an artic lorry through a brick wall. During the frantic climax of the preceding song, Galarraga shrieks “tell them what you heard” – Joe, we would be delighted to.

Words - Joe Ponting

Big Ups

Released May 18th 2018 via Exploding In Sound (Pre order here)

Tracklisting;

1. Two Parts Together
2. In The Shade
3. Trying To Love
4. PPP
5. Tenmile
6. Fear
7. Tell Them
8. Imaginary Dog Walker

Tour dates;

June 10th | Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, UK
June 11th | Le Pub, Newport, UK
June 13th | The Green Door Store, Brighton, UK
June 14th | Birthdays, London, UK