Titus Andronicus is one of those bands I’ve followed with appreciation, but without ever quite locking in fully. The rafter-rattling power of their music and the fierce craft that clearly goes into their songs is admirable, to be sure. I often felt there was just one more ingredient that was needed. Although I couldn’t name what it might possibly be, the suspicion lingered. Turns out, maybe that lost element was a clear, official tether to the nineteen-eighties hardcore the band draws upon. What they needed was a little Bob Mould, perhaps.

The man who was one-third of Hüsker Dü, bringing impeccable songcraft to bludgeoning displays of amplified fury, served as producer of the upcoming Titus Andronicus album, and early slice “(I Blame) Society” promises wonders. The song roars and rages, and unlike many of the sprawling epics the band is known for, it wraps up in a tidy three minutes and change. It is controlled carnage, and it is thrilling.