As I type this review, I am cracking a fresh beer after returning home from the Fake Problems album release party. The celebration was in honor of their upcoming Side One Dummy Records debut, It’s Great to be Alive. The party was of epic, fantastic and maybe even legendary proportions. Unfortunately, I have no pictures since the venue was too dark for my camera phone. Close your eyes and try to imagine a hollowed-out skateboard shop overflowing with multi-colored balloons. Now add in a bunch of hipster kids sporting tight jeans, flannel shirts and faux hawks. That should set the scene fairly well. And that was just for the all-ages concert. As soon as the kiddies meandered home…the bass player wheeled out a keg. I freakin’ love this band.

Both concerts featured a great mix of new and old tracks. I’m a huge fan of drunken sing-a-longs, and thankfully so are Fake Problems. It seems like all of their choruses are designed for maximum crowd participation. It was neat to see people singing along to the new songs, and proudly displaying their love for piracy (It’s Great to be Alive doesn’t officially come out until February 17). Thankfully, going to the concert meant I was able to grab myself an early copy of the album.

It’s Great to be Alive is spinning on my turntable now for the first time, and blowing me away. I have already heard a few tracks online, but I’m noticing many more intricate details now that I’m hearing them in better quality. Fake Problems enlisted producer AJ Mogis for It’s Great to be Alive. Mogis has worked with many indie bands from Saddle Creek Records, such as Bright Eyes, Cursive, and The Faint. Performing and producing with these types of bands has given Mogis a lot of experience working with string and horn sections. On past albums, Fake Problems have frequently included these types of orchestral elements. With Mogis behind the wheel, the arrangements on It’s Great to be Alive sound even more intricate than usual. The same Fake Problems sounds are present, but everything just sounds…bigger.

I don’t want to give away too much about the lyrics themselves, because It’s Great to be Alive deserves to maintain at least a few elements of surprise. Just trust me when I say the songwriting here is honest, interesting and unique. I will say that It’s Great to be Alive contains a reoccurring theme of dualism. Almost every track revolves around some sort of intense struggle between conflicting emotions or ideas. Some focus on the classic struggle of Heaven vs. Hell (“The Heaven & Hell Cotillion,” “Level with the Devil”), while others focus on touring musicians dealing with conflicting feelings of homesickness and restlessness (“Tabernacle Song,” “Diamond Rings”). I found the most interesting dualistic theme to be the struggle of maintaining one’s sanity while living in a chaotic world. This struggle to overcome one’s neurotic tendencies - the singer mentions a habit of talking to himself – seems pretty universal. Nobody wants to seem as crazy as they actually are. Of course, it takes an impressive imagination to blame this sort of neurotic behavior on demonic possession (“Don’t Worry Baby”).

So. To sum up. You should buy It’s Great to be Alive for a couple reasons. For starters, the album rocks from start to finish. And, as if musical talent wasn’t enough, the dudes in Fake Problems are also really nice people. At the release show they were kind enough to hook me up with a birthday present for my friend Ben. Unfortunately, I can’t say anything else about that since I’m pretty sure he knows how to read. Oh, and have I mentioned they’ve given me free beer twice? I freakin’ love this band.