The insanely ambitious Canadian hardcore warriors in Fucked Up are on a very serious roll these days. First, they cranked out The Chemistry of Common Life, one of last year's most viscerally satisfying slabs of posi-rage. Then they played a ridiculous 12-hour show in downtown Manhattan. Indirectly, they inspired this Rob Harvilla article, one of the best pieces of music writing I've read in a long time. And now they're all set to unleash their "Year of the Rat" 12", the third in their series of epic singles based on the Chinese calendar. The New York label What's Your Rupture? will release "Year of the Rat" on vinyl and digital download on March 24. The A-side is an 11-minute monster jam that the press release compares to old-school space-rockers Hawkwind, of all things. And the B-side, "First Born", is a song about behemoth frontman Pink Eyes-- whose strangulated bark conjures immediate sense-memories of bouncing off fat dudes at VFW Hall punk shows when I was 15-- becoming a father. That guy is going to be such an awesome dad! What's Your Rupture? also released the last of the band's year-of-the-blank singles, 2007's 18-minute marathon "Year of the Pig", which was sort of like NOFX's "The Decline" except maybe even better. If Fucked Up want to keep on cranking out these gigantic things, I will not complain. If that wasn't enough, the band is right now in the middle of a North American tour, with British dates to follow. The British trek is the second installment of the Shred Yr Face tour, and finds Fucked Up accompanied by the Bronx and Rolo Tomassi. (The first installment featured Los Campesinos!, No Age, and Times New Viking.) To commemorate the tour, all three bands have recorded exclusive songs for a limited edition 7" which will only be available at independent record stores in the UK. Fucked Up's contribution is a cover of Chain Gang's "Son of Sam".read more