Against Me! - WhiteCrosses

Thu 6th May, 2010 in Music Reviews

When Against Me! called their last album New Wave, it was part challenge, part acknowledgement of their move away from punk. Produced by Butch Vig of Nevermind fame, it represented a big change from the roughshod recordings of he band’s early days, and divided fans with its glossier sound.

White Crosses, also produced by Vig, takes Against Me! even further into crossover territory. That might make some people uncomfortable, and not without good cause: there are a few moments where the backing harmonies stray into the cheesy slickness of 80s stadium rock. Leave now, though, and it’s your loss: White Crosses buzzes with some of Tom Gabel’s strongest and most heartfelt songwriting to date.

Gabel has always had a knack for turning the most unsingable lines into indelible hooks. Case in point: White People For Peace’ s rousing chorus, “protest songs in response to military aggression”. Now, as Against Me! push the ‘anthemic’ slider all the way to the top, there’s no time for “sex on fire” gibberish. Instead, Gabel slots furious politicking alongside well-earned wisdom, refusing to take the easy route to a singalong chorus.

Following the energy burst of the title track, I Was A Teenage Anarchist flips the mood from unexplained fury to reflective without dropping the energy. A clear reference to the fantastic Baby, I’m An Anarchist from 2002’s Reinventing Axl Rose, Gabel takes in youthful lust and channels it through wiser eyes. The naïve idealism of 2002 is replaced by cynicism and frustration that the increasingly rigid anarchists (an oxymoron worthy of Webster’s) drained the optimism and energy from him, all delivered in a towering, full-throated chorus: “do you remember”, Gabel howls, “when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire?”

Because of the Shame, Rapid Decompression and Bamboo Bones all deliver similarly roof-raising choruses that strike a balance between intellect and memorability, but it’s the album’s slow moment, Ache With Me, that really resonates. Amongst such driving energy, the chorus’s invocation of the title hits home, a strained, worn-out line somewhere between request and demand. It suffers a little from the excessive production, draping trebly guitar lines and harmonised vocals over the too-thick acoustic guitar and resonating piano, but the sentiment manages to penetrate nonetheless.

Production does tend to drag down some great moments, crowding every gap and breath with a multi-tiered backing vocal or double-tracked guitar line. Many people will find these a turn-off, and I can understand that.

For all these minor annoyances, though, White Crosses is an immensely fun record. Tom Gabel’s choruses are as tight as ever, with the sort of hooks that the crowd will be singing back with gusto. Everything suggests a move towards bigger crowds, but as long as the quality stays this high, I’ll be in the pit, shouting every word.

White Crosses is due out on the 4th of June