Fate & Alcohol [LP]

After seven years, Japandroids have returned with Fate and Alcohol, their fourth and final full-length. Written in part while the Vancouver duo-guitarist-vocalist Brian King and drummer-vocalist David Prowse-were touring behind their 2017 ANTI- debut, Near to the Wild Heart of Life, the album is at once a return to form and a thrilling step forward, testament to the sort of chemistry that they've honed over the course of 18 years and hundreds of shows side-by-side. Their aim was simply to write songs that they'd enjoy playing live, without sacrificing any of the nuance or ambition that marked their previous effort. Nowhere on this record is that more deeply felt than lead single "Chicago," a song whose sheer momentum feels inevitable and true-from the inherent romance of it's opening chords to the series of snare-led explosions that see it through. Like the rest of Fate and Alcohol, it was recorded in Vancouver with longtime collaborator Jesse Gander, who also engineered 2009's Post-Nothing and 2012's Celebration Rock. "The very first demo we have of "Chicago" was recorded in our jam space on February 4th, 2020," King says, "and if you listen to that, it just sounds like a rough version of what you hear on the record. But it's all there. That, in some ways, is the most ideal circumstance for a band like us: just having something that really rips in your jam space, something that feels good, something that you're excited about."