Against Me! – New Wave

There’s no doubt about it, in the punk scene, New Wave is by far one of the most highly anticipated release of 2007. Fans old and new want to love it and devour it entirely while other fans expect it to fail and are ready to yell out “sell-outs!” the instant the record drops. Every press announcement was met with much talk, video releases and behind the scenes footage soared through the internet and every interview Tom Gabel did was taken and dissected ceremoniously word by word. It all combined to build up a sort of anticipation that most major labels releases only dream of as the consensus is that New Wave will either be absolutely amazing or absolutely horrible – luckily for us, it falls into the former of the two.

The band opens up with a rolling guitar riff and steady drum beat on the title track which instantly questions what everyone’s been saying, blatantly asking “Are you ready to brave new directions?” Because rather than simply re-writing their first few albums over and over again Against Me! have developed a more cohesive sound – following in the same footsteps that Searching For Former Clarity did comparative to Is The Eternal Cowboy. The album is rich and strong, full with sing along choruses and sharp vocals from Gabel. Thrash Unreal is a foot stomping track formed around Warren Oakes drumming and Gabel’s harsh vocals mixed with some “bah-bah-bah-da-bah” in the backgrounds and Stop is one of the catchiest songs the band has ever written and instantly jumps out at listener lyrically and sonically.

The lyrics are polarizing and contradictory, saying something but hinting at another. White People For Peace is a song depicting the futility of protest songs while simultaneously being a protest song, Stopcovers the issue of signing to major label (Stop! Take some time to think, figure out what’s important to you./ You’ve got to make a serious decision.). Thrash Unreal is an honest depiction of a girl from the new wave era falling into drug use and growing up to be alone while Piss And Vinegar sees an irate Gabel condemning the bull shit attitude of the music industry and begging for honesty.

One of the most surprising tracks on the album, and one which will become a Against Me! fan favorite, is Borne Of The FM Waves Of The Heart – a duet with Tegan Quinn of Tegan And Sara. With a soft guitar melody, the song focuses around the vocal combination between Quinn and Gabel. The intensity slowly builds as does the emotion as it cumulates towards the closing moments of the song.

At just ten songs, the album is the perfect length. Searching For Former Clarity fell victim to too much filler, where as this one barely has any – Animal being the only weak track on the whole disc. While quite different than Re-inventing Axl Rose, New Wave is the album Against Me! needed to release. It shows a progression in the band, a very crisp rock sound with pop tendencies still based around the folk punk vocal sound that Against Me! grew up on. It will still be scrutinized and ripped apart from every side, every note and every lyric – but after all of that, people will realize that New Wave is still an amazing album – it’s just not the same album you heard back in 2002.