- Release Info Artist: Against Me! Album: New Wave Label: Sire Records Playtime: 33:33 min Genre: Punk Rock URL: http://againstme.net/ Rip date: 2007-07-07 Street date: 2007-07-10 Size: 52.67 MB Type: Normal Quality: 207 kbps / 4410kHz / Joint Stereo - Release Notes "Just don't compare it to the early stuff." Those were my thoughts as I placed my copy of New Wave, the latest album (and first release on major label Sire Records) from Against Me!, into my CD player for the first time. After hearing their last album, Searching For A Former Clarity and reading numerous interviews with frontman Tom Gabel, it's quite obvious that the major label debut from the Gainesville, Florida, quartet would be nothing like Reinventing Axl Rose or As The Eternal Cowboy. And that's okay. As a big Against Me! fan, I can understand and respect Gabel's desire to branch out and not write the same record twice, and it's fairly evident on New Wave. Produced by Butch Vig, the album is rich and sounds sharp. Gabel's vocals are brash and leave a lasting impression on every song. Musically, it doesn't stray too far from Searching, as it is more of a progression from that record. The title track begins the album with nice drumming from Warren Oakes and a rolling guitar riff that's full of energy. "Up The Cuts" is my least favorite track on the album, as nothing in it really grabs your attention, resulting in a boring second track. "Thrash Unreal?is a hell of a foot-stomping track and will be a fun song to hear live and "Piss And Vinegar?is a scathing song with Gabel sounding irate behind the microphone. The album's first single, "White People For Peace,?has been met with mixed results from fans, but I enjoy it for the attitude displayed throughout, as the pace of this track definitely livens up the album. It sets the stage for "Stop," which is no doubt one of the catchiest tunes AM! have ever released. It's a song that beams with confidence and will be a favorite of many fans. The other song previously heard before the release was the live version of "Americans Abroad,?first heard on the live album the band released last summer. While I wasn't an immediate fan of this song because it sounded weak live, the recorded version gives it new life and is one of my favorite tracks on the album. The first curveball thrown on the disc is "Borne On The FM Waves,?which features a duet by Gabel and Tegan Quin, one half of the indie-pop band Tegan and Sara. Featuring a steady drum beat and a delicately-played guitar riff, the song focuses on the chemistry between Gabel and Quin's voices. As the intensity of the music turns up halfway through, the song gets even better and will definitely go down as a major highlight in Against Me!'s entire discography. The album closes with the subdued eeriness of "Ocean," as the vibe of the track gives you the feeling of being out at sea. The guitars of Gabel and James Bowman needle in and out, and the rhythm of Oakes and bassist Andrew Seward keeps the song's pulse beating. Lyrically, the song is very interesting, as Gabel sings "If I could have chosen/I would've been born a woman/my mother once told me/she would've named me Laura," and the verse continues on with Gabel wondering what his life would have been as the opposite sex. The song closes with Gabel belting out "There is an ocean/in my soul/where the waters do not curve?as the band emphatically finishes out New Wave. New Wave aims to be just as polarizing as Searching was, but I can see New Wave having better results, mainly because the album is only ten tracks long. While Searching had a handful of good to great songs, many songs on that album were filler, as the fourteen tracks on that album seemed to just drag on and on. With New Wave, you get the good tracks with very minimal filler, as this album has hit me harder and will stick with me longer than Searching did. As for comparing them to Reinventing and Eternal Cowboy? Well, I said I wasn't going to do that, and for the most part, I've kept New Wave separate, but it comes no where close to those two records. But I can say I'm glad that Against Me! has chosen not to replicate the sound of those albums, as taking a different approach with each release has added to the band抯 longevity. New Wave is bound to turn off older fans as well as bringing in newer fans, as, in the end, there is no way around it. Older fans will be pissed Against Me! has more of a rock sound, while that same sound will also draw in newer fans. It抯 a fine line Against Me! are straddling with New Wave, but as the album title suggests, Tom Gabel and company are always making new waves in their music, so it's best you better catch onto it. -- Drew Beringer, absolutepunk.net - Track List 01. New Wave ( 3:29) 02. Up The Cuts ( 2:53) 03. Thrash Unreal ( 4:13) 04. White People For Peace ( 3:32) 05. Stop! ( 2:34) 06. Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart ( 4:09) 07. Piss and Vinegar ( 2:27) 08. American Abroad ( 2:17) 09. Animal ( 3:21) 10. The Ocean ( 4:38)
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