AGAINST ME! "New Wave"(2007 Sire Records)

Wed 4th Jul, 2007 in Music Reviews

Tom Gabel, head of punk outfit Against Me, was philosophical in his opinion of the band’s fourth release, and how the title New Wave applied to they’re powerful new record and lease on life. “We felt like it was our mission statement, or manifesto for this record,” Gabel said, “Instead of sitting around and complaining how there’s no good music out there, you should be energised and take things over’. Referring to the lyric of his opening track – “Being the bands we want to hear. The title meant `wave` in a literal sense-coming and washing away any mediocrity, why let some one else have the loudest voice?” And with this new album Tom certainly has not.

This epic opens with a gritty, angst filled one-two punch with New Wave and Up the Cuts. New Wave opens the album with Tom’s gravely voice singing of a wave washing over them. Gabel also talks about eclipsing any other bands with they’re originality within the mainstream industry. You get the impression throughout this record that Gabel and the band are at a crossroads but have a new sense of themselves and are loving where this new outlook is taking them. This new outlook could have something to do with the recruitment of heavyweight producer Butch Vig (*Nirvana, Sonic Youth, Smashing Pumpkins*, and Garbage). “We were going through this list of hot-shot producers, and we didn’t want one that didn’t give a f@#% about our band.” Gabel said “But the thing I always liked about his other records was that they all sounded great sonically-but they still sound like real bands.”

The first single Thrash Unreal speaks of a damaged life of a college drop out 40 something female junkie who defiantly has no regrets. No regrets are what bass player Seward says Against Me is all about these days. “It’s not an adventure, it’s an extension of and adventure, its something we wanted to do for us-we own this move. (To a major label) But Seward admits they were nervous about the change saying that they were afraid of making a “big rookie mistake”, of going to Hollywood and inturn sounding like Hollywood. Comparing this album to previous it’s easy to divide the three before Vig came and the one after. Being the d.i.y band that they are, the rawness of the previous three stood them in good stead to make this perfectly crafted record.

This 10 track, 34 minute CD covers topics of love, lust, war, personal integrity and substance abuse. But none more thought provoking than the tracks White People for Peace and Americans Abroad, these songs are a clear representation of the seriousness of this bands opinion on what’s going on with the current war. Against Me has a new breed of fans that also hate this situation and they drew a broader audience when whilst performing on the popular American talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live shouted a chorus chanting “Condoleezza, Condoleezza what have you done with this country?”

There’s no doubt this band has some beliefs and issues with the world they live in but as an avid fan, I think they can let they’re hard hitting riffs, and throaty singing speak for itself. This is a classic album that has everything from heart-felt mellow numbers, to hardcore show stoppers. Recently Against Me toured for the third time throughout Australia, which they openly admit is their favourite place in the world to tour. I welcome them back with open arms and look forward to another all-time album.

Info/Quotes: www.againstme.net

AGAINST ME!
New Wave
2007 (Sire Records)
Produced by Butch Vig& Rich Costey

1.New Wave
2.Up the Cuts
3.Thrash Unreal
4.White People for Peace
5.Stop
6.Born on the FM Waves of the Heart
7.Piss and Vinegar
8.Americans Abroad
9.Animal
10.The Ocean