Against Me! is a band that divides opinion like no other. Whenever an article appears about them on Punknews.org, the comments section is filled with clashing opinions and raised internet voices. (Check out this recent thread of comments reacting to the news that the band had left Sire to see what I mean: http://www.punknews.org/article/40752) See what I mean? It's all so boring now, isn't it? Everyone under the sun has had the same conversation about them. It's not hard to understand why they draw so much attention, affection, devotion, spite and hatred when listening to their back catalogue. Powerful punk rock jams with wordy lyrics that nailed singer/guitarist Tom Gabel's colours firmly to the mast. It's easy to see why he became a standard for people to rally behind and then a figure of fun and ridicule for others. But I'm not here to chat about a well worn topic. It's a long and difficult history and with countless opinions online about Gabel and his band, I won't get drawn into it.
Safe to say, I'm a big fan of Against Me!. I never used to be, but thankfully a couple of my friends showed me the error of my ways and now I would count them as one of my top 3 favourite bands. 2010 saw them release their fifth full length, and second for Sire/Warner, White Crosses. Clocking in at just over 35 minutes in length, White Crosses sees AM! developing the aural themes they started on 2007's excellent New Wave. Opening with the catchy pro-choice title track, the album grabs you from the word go. You can also tell immediately that the production is slicker than on anything that the band has previously released, with many fans complaining that Butch Vig's work had 'ruined' the album but, for me, the production doesn't detract from Gabel's songwriting at all. Yes, it does sound more radio friendly than Reinventing Axl Rose, but you don't get pop songs with lyrics like "7 missiles flying over the sea of japan. Tales of feral children sleeping in wolf dens. And the pious preacher commands. I hold my breath in anticipation. Into the shelter of the jungle noble savages run. Vestal virgins triumph over life long inhibitions. And I wonder, what is real? What is fiction?" as on 'High Pressure Low'. First single 'I Was A Teenage Anarchist' sees Gabel address his past and hit back at those who had accused him of selling out his ideals. The message is clear: Tom Gabel is older, wiser and doesn't need doctrines or movements to tell him who he is anymore. He marches to his own drum beat. The chorus is undeniably catchy, with Vig's soaring production complementing it brilliantly. 'Beacuse of The Shame' found it's origins in New Wave's 'Thrash Unreal', with Gabel speaking directly to a deceased friend who mistakenly thought the song had been penned about her. The chorus is another example of Gabel's skill when penning a lyric and his knack for fitting lines that just shouldn't work into a catchy tune:
"Because of the shame I associate with vulnerability I am numbing myself completely.
Can you hear me right now?
I watched your mother bury you today, with tears in her eyes.
It wasn’t her words that shook me, it was the resemblance you shared."
The pace drops a little as the band head into 'Suffocation', a lament about the modern way of life. Yes, that is a dog toy you can hear in the chorus and the accompanying "Huh!" is one of the most unashamedly playful things you'll ever hear on AM! track. The following song 'We're Breaking Up' seems to deal with a past relationship that Gabel has had with a woman but fans of the band recognised it as a farewell to departed drummer and bearded rhythm machine Warren Oakes. Gabel expresses his regret that things have ended whilst recognising that fault lies with all parties. The final line "I'm not giving up on us" expresses hope at a reconciliation that would see many fans begin growing heroic beards in celebration. Even the girls. Whilst it is a cryptic lyric, it doesn't sound too much like a typical Against Me! song and I feel that the record would have been better served had they replaced this track with 'One By One' or 'Bitter Divisions', both tracks included on the deluxe edition of the release.
'High Pressure Low' is a lyric that jumps from place to place, opening with Andrew Seward's insanely catchy bass riff. Starting off like a weather report, wrapped in cold war anxiety, it is one of the album's stand out cuts. It also contains another classic Against Me! lyric when Gabel lambasts Robert Strange McNamara, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, for his part in the U.S.A's involvement in the Vietnam war, surely the first time McNamara has ever been immortalised in song. Gabel has admitted in interviews that the song's lyric was written in a motel room whilst on tour and deals with whatever was on TV at the time.
'Ache With Me' slows the pace of the reocrd again for another mournful look at the state of the world, with Gabel concluding that he has "no judgement for you. Come on and ache with me." Life is tough, yes, but that's the way it is and ultimately we're in it together. It also contains what might be construed as another thinly veiled dig at the punk scene when Gabel sings "Ideals turn to resentment, open minds close up with cynicism." Next up is the brilliant 'Spanish Moss' with its catchy as fuck backing vocals, and Who-like opening verse. It sees Gabel yearn for simpler times, whilst acknowledging the ultimate irrelevance of anything he has achieved with his music. He seems to be saying that the fact that he is in a reasonably successful and popular rock band does not define him as a person, and he could as easily walk away from it all as carry on.
The album's penultimate track 'Rapid Decompression' is classic AM! Fast, punchy, and filled with reckless abandon, it is another dig at the scores of people who have tried to hold the band back. Gabel spits the lyrics spitefully at a nameless 'you,' tearing them to pieces. The band set stheir stall out, and the track almost acts as a mission statement for Against Me!'s future, the opening line states that Gabel, Seward, Bowman and Rebelo are tired of 'predicting to lose', and they want to take this thing as far as they can, before calling out the listener on any judgements they might make about this: "But before you point your finger, before you cast your stones, take a look at yourself." It's a worthy member in AM!'s cannon and stands up against anything in their back catalogue. Brilliant.
Closing cut 'Bamboo Bones' sees Gabel continuing the album's over riding theme of defiance coupled with regret. Rebelo's beats provide this song with a jerky, schizophrenic feel in places, complenting Gabel's lyrics brilliantly to maintain the theme of inner turmoil they set out. At the end of it all, the band is triumphant, having come through adversity with the conclusion that "What god doesn’t give to you, you’ve got to go and get for yourself."
And so ends White Crosses. Sure, it's not AM!'s strongest release. It's definitely a transitional one, as the band seem keen to tackle their past whilst looking to the future. Musically, they have married the best poppy punk rock of the Replacements to Tom Petty, with a pinch of Springsteen in some tracks. It will be exciting to see where Against Me! head next. Having left Sire, will they cast off the supposed shackles of major label employment and head back into the realms of honest punk rock or will they carry on down the path they have made with their last two releases? Either way, I'll be with them for the ride as will many, many others. After all, if this is, as some will have you believe, Against Me! off form just imagine what they could do if they rediscover what they have supposedly lost. As the boys themselves have told us already, even at their worst, they're better than most.
White Crosses on Wikipedia
The Official video for 'I Was A Teenage Anarchist' from the album White Crosses
The Official video for 'Rapid Decompression' from the album White Crosses
Grab Against Me's daytrotter.com session here! Features 'White Crosses' and 'Ache With Me' from White Crosses, as well as covers of Cock Sparrer's 'Because You're Young' and the Dead Kennedys' 'Moon Over Marin'. And best of all, it's completely free and legal!
Get White Crosses at Amazon!
Up next for review is In Desolation by Off With Their Heads.
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