Against Me! - New Wave
Rating
RIYL
RancidGreen Day
Joe Strummer
Bad Religion
Label
SireTracklist
1. New Wave2. Up the Cuts
3. Thrash Unreal
4. White People for Peace
5. Stop!
6. Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart
7. Piss and Vinegar
8. Americans Abroad
9. Animal
10. The Ocean
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I'm getting it out of the way right from the start and I'm going to try not to come back to it after this: The Against Me! of the Reinvinting Axl Rose era is long gone. The once relentlessly DIY anarchist outfit has gradually ascended the ranks from uber indie No Idea to semi-major Fat Wreck all the way up to a big bad major in Sire and along with their changing status in the music industry's pecking order, the band's sound has changed some as well. This band is now completely different. Make no mistakes, New Wave is a major label release that has a lot more in common with recent albums by Green Day and My Chemical Romance than it does with the Jacksonville scene that spawned the band.
New Wave is a punk-tinged modern rock album full of sweeping, anthemic choruses, broad and timeless political commentary, and a crystal clear, big name production courtesy of Butch Vig. No more acoustics, minimal country/folk influence, no more delightfully lo-fi recording techniques... get used to it. That said, the aggression, creativity and songwriting skills present on New Wave vastly outshine American Idiot or The Black Parade and the overall punk appeal herein is much more convincing as well. In other words, New Wave does what those albums were supposed to do, but with much more character and street cred.
Other than the obvious luxuries of having a big label financially backing the album, the actual sound of the band hasn't changed a whole heck of a lot. Some natural maturation and polishing is evident in their songwriting, but the major hallmarks of the band's sound are intact. Tom Gabel's vocals still have a rough, gritty texture to them, though he sings a lot more tunefully while maintaining an aggressive edge to his vocals. The writing is still culling a lot of influence from Joe Strummer and The Clash, though as stated above, this record has a very strong lean towards straight forward rock.
Overall, I'd say the major label jump has been a successful one for Against Me! They haven't entirely abandoned what made them special from the beginning while still making an effort to appeal to a broader audience. This is catchy enough to sell enough records to keep the label execs at bay without becoming a completely faceless, boring mainstream album. Well done.
--Tyler Wagnon
Comments
Minnesota
Find me EVERYWHERE:
Olathe, Kansas
Minnesota
Minnesota
Then why did you give them a 3.5?
Find me EVERYWHERE:
Olathe, Kansas
i went back and forth between 3 and 3.5. its above average for the sound they are doing. i'd much rather have younger kids getting down to this than MCR or GD. its on par or (much) better than most things that get similar ratings around here. and my ratings don't always reflect personal taste. if it did, this would probably get a 2, but then i look like a biased a-hole. see?
Columbia, MO
Northampton, PA
It's a great addition to the Against Me library.
3.5 is accurate.
It has a whole bunch of shows, which they produced themselves!!
Check it out!
www.kyte.tv/againstme