12FU: Wonderfully Effed Up

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DAMIAN ABRAHAM LOVES punk rock. The lead singer of Fucked Up is a hardcore record collector (pun intended), and since this is the home of harDCore, it wasn't surprising when he asked his bandmates to do one more song at the Rock & Roll Hotel on Sunday: a cover of Wire's "12XU," which Minor Threat recorded and to which Abraham wanted to pay a self-described "cheesy" tribute.

Deep down, however, you know he really meant the homage.

But when the song went off like a car crash, Abraham pushed guitarist 10,000 Marbles and then spilled half of Mr. Jo's drum kit before jumping off stage. (It was the second time he left the performance, actually; earlier he dashed off the dais in order to puke up all the nachos he ate before the show.)

The remaining five members of the band laughed about Abraham's tantrum, which seemed a playful gesture more than an act of anger, but there's no denying that the band is a little, um, riled up.

Abraham made repeated references to how he didn't want to be on tour, how he wanted to be home (his wife is pregnant), how none of the band members are talking, how this could be the group's last show, how he's sick, how he just wants his mom to rub his head when he barfs tortillas. (He got a couple of guys in the audience to do it instead.)

But Pink Eyes, as he's known on record, loves to complain because he knows it's good theater. As Abraham told me last week, he's a big pro wrestling fan, so he knows what makes for a dramatic, over-the-top storyline.

That's not to say he's isn't miserable, doesn't want to be home, didn't think "12XU" sucked and didn't yak a mountain of corn chips. It's just that Abraham walks the manic line between loving life and hating it, between being totally self-aware and wanting to be lost in the moment.

It's what makes his band so compelling, so human, so very punk rock.

Photos by Christopher Porter/Express