Against Me! - New Wave

I suck at html.

I didn't like Under the Blacklight, and New Wave is on my top 10 (#4 to be exact).

aw yeah

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqYmLDdIKws&feature=player_embedded

single off new album

not feelin the shoutin

These guys are good at what they do (i.e. their songs are written in solid prose unencumbered by Green Day's American idiots and boulevards of broken dreams).

yeah I've always thought they were pretty good lyricists in their sphere. the best show I've ever been to was an AM! show.

New album is amazing. Love it more every time I hear it.

shit did it leak??

few weeks ago. it really does it for me. such great amazing shit.

"I wake up in the morning and I drink from the fountain. / I wake up in the morning with the same unanswered questions. / I don't know what's going to cure my unsettled stomach."

Unsettled stomaches!

"Do you remember when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire?"

total d-_-b

"because of the shame" is an admirable and stirring "thrash unreal" redux

"Suffocation"

this is top ten for me (the album).

They remember what it was like to be young, don't hesitate about sentimentalizing how they knocked down white crosses in graveyards, but don't forget for a moment that they're in a better place now.

yeah as much as I absolutely prefer their old stuff it makes me happy that they've found success.

I love this band. They deserve to be huge. My favorite from White Crosses is Suffocation. The only band around now (besides Wire) who could make a catchy chorus out of "Modern life in the western world"

album art is pretty rad

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9c/White_Crosses.jpg

i liked this band when i was a teenager and when they were were teenage anarchists

but when it came time to throw bricks through that starbucks windows
YOU LEFT ME ALL ALONE (all alone)

always admired how that chorus is really clunky when you just say it but when tom powers through it it sounds like the most natural thing in the world

I'll make my way back home to you
Head north on San Marco Avenue.

this album is so good

after "because of the shame" my favs right now are "we're breaking up" and "high pressure low" (love how the "high pressure low" chorus keeps growing)

mordy i remember now that you loved 21st century breakdown too

lol, yeah. I was just thinking how these albums are similar, tho 21st Century is way more theatrical (which is prob appropriate that Green Day is turning those songs into Broadway numbers) and this feels a lot rawer.

yeah totes -- "ache with me" is super 21st century breakdown tho & the pianos of "we're breaking up" feel that way too

the new Gaslight Anthem is striking me in a really similar way to this too

we used to get high together / instead of getting high alone

because of the shame i associate with vulnerability, i am numbing myself completely

heard the teenage anarchist song; haaaated it

I just watched the music video for it and thought it was dope also maybe MIA should watch it she might learn something

http://stereogum.com/381371/franz-nicolay-joins-against-me/news/

Weird.

Yeah.

what is he even going to play?

I'm really not into Against Me! suddenly playing a keyboard on all their tracks.

ha right

The more I listen to this the more I like it... and I liked it right off the bat.

How is their last album compared to this? All I remember is that one single that sounded like Franz Ferdinand, which I quite liked.

The one issue I'm having with this album is that the lyrics are so bleak. Like I've been turning on Gaslight Anthem a bunch because it sounds amazing and has a really warm feeling and the lyrics are vague enough to tune out when my attention is elsewhere. This Against Me! album tho is brutal. "Narrow visions of autonomy / You want me to surrender my identity," turning into this old man looking back on his more rebellious days when he was still full of life. Or "because of the shame I associate with vulnerability / i am numbing myself completely," which turns in the end into a death (the mother burying her kid), or the super depressing "We're Breaking Up" track where he's looking around his broken relationship and wondering what to do with their shared bands and shared friends. So generally I'd rather listen to something not so completely depressing - it's not half as good as something like Blue, but it's about as relentless.

Well to me it's a lot about how this former teenage anarchist is dealing with being 30 (or nearly 30), realizing he can't be that kid anymore. But yeah, a lot of it's bleak shit. Is that so bad, though?

No, I mean, it can be great. I think the new album is really powerful. But I don't always want to be in that headspace, and it transmits affect really effectively.

Terrific album.

yes

Why do me and J0rdan like the same rock albums all the time? Is there some reason that Against Me! and Titus Andronicus appeal to AUTOGOONS in particular?

J0rdan, do you like Torche too?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgvqEJstNrw

Are we talking about White Crosses or New Wave? Not that it really matters. They're both excellent.

The new one doesn't have anything as epic as Thrash Unreal, but it's probably more consistent overall. The only problem with New Wave for me was side 2 was not nearly as good.

I had NO idea the Against Wave cult reviles White Crosses (check out the Amazon reviews). How is it so bloody different -- except they've gotten better at what they do?

Against Me's fans turn on them with every album iirc

Not sure critics ate it up in America. The tone of many of his reviews was suspcious.

Bowie's failure to break America early in his career is pretty legendary

altho don't think I've read much criticism of him from the time, apart from Bangs'

Diamond Dogs was his first top five album in the States, two years after the impact of his "coming out" had waned.

You may be aware of the fact that neither of them are Americans.

But ... but .... Young Americans ....

You may be aware of the fact that neither of them are Americans.

British = fruits?

Bowie's one of the only cases I can think of where a straight guy tried to pass himself off as gay AS A CAREER MOVE

Wasn't this Brett Anderson's thing? But I guess it's different in the UK, where Erasure had... what, FOUR consecutive #1 albums?

Suede were ignored here, alas.

Brett Anderson was also quite clearly using Bowie as a playbook. worked about as well in the US for Suede as it did for Bowie lol

xp

Anyway this is all kind of beside the point, she's a transwoman, not a gay man, and I think the super-positive reaction about her 'coming out' is more a reflection of the fact that being trans is (as I perceive) more difficult for the uninitiated to parse than "gay" or "lesbian"

yeah we got kinda off-topic a bit

I'm just happy to see a public entertainer with gender dysphoria speaking plainly and candidly about it in the media. It's not really _new_ that there are trans (or gender-queer) people working in entertainment, but I think this openness creates a more positive space and I hope it becomes the norm

Man, I was looking for country singer Rae Spoon's coming out article(s)-- Rae identified as transman in the early 00s but now they identify as gender-neutral-- sadly they've been whisked away off the internet.

learned how to play 'reinventing axl rose' today

Rae is fucking awesome. Point final.

Brett Anderson was also quite clearly using Bowie as a playbook. worked about as well in the US for Suede as it did for Bowie lol

worked less well because Bowie sold millions of records in American and got two #1 hits

British = fruits?

― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, May 10, 2012 3:41 PM Bookmark

Naw, just trying to point out the British press is probably much more relevant to that conversation than the American press you automatically jumped to.

well, I think I was clear about distinguishing between his coverage (and sales) here and the Yoo Kay.

I see the band is touring with the Cult (um) this summer. I wonder how long is Tom planning to tour as Tom? And will she continue to tour as Laura? Will she tour in Against Me! or is that the end of the band?

i guess that will become clearer soon, the RS.com blurb ends with:

The full story of Gabel's transformation is in the latest issue, on newsstands this Friday (May 11th). In it, the singer tells Josh Eells about her history of gender dysphoria, the specifics of the transition process and what becoming Laura Jane Grace will mean for the future of Against Me!

If anybody can fit the phrase gender dysphoria into a lyric, it will be Laura Jane Grace.

i read the full story the other day, it said he plans on performing as a woman when they go on tour at the end of may

wait nevermind, i misremembered -- she talks in the piece about performing onstage as a woman, but i guess there are no solid plans

it does say that she plans on being on hormones by the time they go on tour at the end of may

The pitchfork post on the story includes a live YouTube vid of Gable solo (with long hair!) doing a new track called "Gender Dysphoria Blues." would link, but I'm on my phone.

Halford came out well past their commercial peak.

Halford came out repeatedly AFAIK, the first I ever heard of Judas Priest was in a "heavy metal primer" in Smash Hits, which casually mentioned he was the only out gay in metal

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6wturVSLc1qzpf0co1_1280.jpg

awesome

aw

http://youtu.be/35xd5OzEqro

Performing 'The Ocean' live in Colorado. The sheer look of joy on Laura's face around 1:10 when she hits the second verse is so incredible.

(And the cheers from the crowd at those lines.

Better recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNY7mcupfrs

i was totes going to buy tickets to this. i'm glad i waited:

Against Me!
BAD RELIGION TOUR CANCELLATION
Unfortunately we have to cancel all of our appearances scheduled for the upcoming tour with Bad Religion and Polar Bear Club.
Canceling a tour is definitely not a decision we would make lightly. At this moment, due to our current uncertainty over who is going to be playing drums with us, we feel like we are lacking the ability to put on the show our fans deserve and we think that the best thing for us to do right now is take some time to regroup and finish a record.
Our most sincere apologies to Bad Religion, Polar Club and all of the agents and promoters involved with the tour but most importantly to the fans who were coming out to see us.
If anyone who bought tickets doesn't want to go to the show now or walks away from the show feeling disappointed we'll definitely do our best to accommodate some spots on our guest list next time we pass through your town, which hopefully won't be too long from now.
Sincere apologies. - Against Me!

http://dyingscene.com/news/fat-mike-nofx-and-atom-willard-the-hell-to-record-with-against-me/

Huh. Cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bePBQA30vQ

HOOS are you coming around to reinventing axl rose??

Oh yeah dude, around late winter last year it became my favorite

http://i.imgur.com/SKHsa1z.jpg

badass

this is temporarily available for free download at their website right now http://www.againstme.net/

both songs are great

excited!!

also i was sort of worried about the status of the proper record bc they lost both their bassist and drummer recently but apparently they've finished recording it

yeah i'm kinda skeptical that this is coming out

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7WanzlOvGg

saw them at riot fest last weekend, it got really emotional. if the rest of transgender dysphoria blues is as good as the new songs they played it'll be a really important record to me. in like a deeply personal way

always extremely jealous when someone gets a chance to see them live

anticipating the hell out of the new record

Same here. I played White Crosses a few weeks ago and was shocked anew by "Suffocation."

found a decent live video of "transgender dysphoria blues"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq_va3wNfFo

the lyrics are incredible

you want them to notice the ragged ends of your summer dress
you want them to see you like they see every other girl
they just see a faggot
they hold their breath not to catch the sick

rough surf on the coast, i wish i could've spent the whole day alone with you