Some bands seem to have a pathological need to release music. Fucked Up seem to be one step past that. While they’ve only released three studio albums, with the fourth, Glass Boys, to be released soon, a brief glance at the rest of their discography shows a staggering amount of 12-inches, 7-inches, and EPs. One of the longest standing conceptual projects is the so-called Zodiac Series, a string of 12-inch singles that are named after characters in the Chinese zodiac chart. Starting in 2005 with Year of the Dog, they’ve now made it to halfway through the calendar with their latest release, Year of the Dragon (Tankcrimes).

The one thing Fucked Up has cultivated throughout their career is that they don’t mind playing fast and loose with expectations. So while the band is most commonly referred to as playing hardcore punk, on their records they have no problem with stretching that definition. On the title track of the three-song EP, Fucked Up bounce between hardcore, a smidge of black metal, some prog moments, and back over the course of 18 minutes. It really should be too much, but the band ably navigates the transitions, albeit with some side detours, and manages to keep it together as one big monstrous whole instead of a pastiche stitched together like Frankenstein’s monster. (Check it out below.) The other two tracks, “I Wanna Be A Yank (Cardboard Brains)” and “Disorder (The Ugly),” keep things more too the point, with quick, sharp classic punk jabs. They are no less crafted than “Year of the Dragon,” but more what the average punker would expect. Either way, this 12-inch is a great snapshot at the many sides of Fucked Up.