999,996: Titus Andronicus — My Time Outside the Womb

As a rule of thumb, you should probably avoid listening to earnest punk bands, especially those with literary pretensions, and/or those that are named for early Shakespeare tragedies, such as Titus Andronicus. I would recommend, however, making an exception for Titus Andronicus, an earnest punk band with definite literary pretensions, named for an early Shakespeare tragedy.

Why make an exception to such a sensible rule? Well, for one thing, Titus Andronicus (the band, not the tragedy) spends a lot of time not sounding like a punk band so much as like a hornless E Street band, if somebody broke into Bruce Springsteen’s state-of-the-art underground Rock Facility and turned all the amps up three or four notches, then turned the vocals down, forcing Bruce to strain his rich baritone voice to the breaking point, resulting in a constant harsh, but tuneful, quasi scream. Unlike a lot of the record, "My Time Outside the Womb" actually does not sound that much like an amped up Boss, but is an insanely infectious stomper with sweet “ooo-ooo-ooo” backing vocals, tons of self deprecating swagger, and not even a hint of literary pretension.

My Time Outside The Womb - Tit...