Framtid- Under the Ashes LP (2002)
Of course the Framtid album was an instant classic, and has never been surpassed. That we can even speak this way is already something rare. Records are still hyped, certain records are still “events”—but in this way their factical existence overshadows their artistic existence, their descriptions loom larger than their impact. Indie rock bands like the Animal Collective or Fucked Up or Vampire Weekend try to outdo themselves with every album, but who ever thought of these bands as having a “back catalog” à la Metallica? The idea of someone *today* buying Fucked Up’s Hidden World and slogging through its 80 minutes is ludicrous. Still, one would not say that it has been “surpassed,” since these albums just slink back into the churn of personnel and institutional framework from which they briefly peeked. Hidden World can never be surpassed, because it will never be set up as something to be overcome or judged against. No more will the next coffee table I buy “surpass” my current coffee table. It will simply be junked.
In the moment, a hyped record is impossible to sort out from an instant classic. There is probably no way to get around this: you have to throw yourself around a little bit, and be enthusiastic.
The Framtid album was an exception to all of this. From the weight of the vinyl to the long gap between their debut and this, their magnum opus, to the universal understanding that Framtid were simply the best hardcore band in existence—the album was definitive and immortalized from day one. It continued to be “new” for a very long time, if you see what I mean. And to this day not a single record has even threatened to surpass it.
On the weight of the vinyl: these days, Nuclear War Now!, a metal label, releases all of its records in extremely heavy vinyl, with decked-out and deluxe packaging. Even the worst artist in their stable gets this treatment. And probably these days no one is fooled anymore. And it can only make these records look the more ridiculous when you cart them to the record store to trade in for pennies on the dollar. But the weight of the Framtid record is an assertion that has been confirmed by time, and only adds to the album’s mystique.
One of the more convincing descriptions of Framtid when this record came out was that they were “like Gloom but with real songs.” Nowadays, this sounds like “like Finnegan’s Wake, but with a plot!” or… “like Megan Fox, but blonde!” The second term really undoes the whole logic of the first term. Gloom’s whole *being* precludes their having real songs… Anyways, Framtid indeed have real songs, although it certainly would be possible to just succumb to the incredibly powerful production and ruckus of their style and sound. If there are several levels of “having real songs,” where the Bad Brains, the Cro Mags, Bastard, the Dicks, and Poison Idea are at the top level, Framtid are firmly at the next level: with Totalitär, Crucifix, and Jerry’s Kids.
Bastard is probably the best comparison here, more than the Discharge-style bands that Framtid are clearly influenced by. Why? Not because they sound like Bastard, although “they don’t not…”—- because this is basically incredibly simple music, executed with incredible talent (the drumming!!), and designed for utmost memorability and “hugeness.” And this without becoming the dreaded “Arena Crust.” So on one hand, NOTHING is heavier or more devastating than Framtid, but on the other, it does not become a redundant mess nor a boring display of metal chops. Like Bastard, it is miraculously intelligible without ever being “obvious.” And unlike American bands of the same era, Framtid were anthemic without giving way to Rage Against the Machine-style breathy indignation…
It is my contention that this band is correctly appreciated by Cro Mags fans, and somewhat misunderstood by the raw punk scene. It is a strange mystery of our times that Framtid “crossed over” to the Boston straight edge scene (see: Obliteration), but even more mysterious that this powerful statement has produced virtually no imitators in its own style except for Pisschrist. But Pisschrist have not and never will write a song like “Life’s Hard”…
It is very possible that Under the Ashes is the best hardcore album of all time.
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