Spin declares Against Me!'s "New Wave" as album of the year, talks to Tom

More kudos is coming in for Against Me!'s major label debut, New Wave, which has topped the list for Spin Magazine. Beyond that, the magazine also exchanged some questions with frontman Tom Gabel who finally addressed the unfortunate incident which saw him arrested:

All I can say is, it was ridiculous. They were holding an anti–Against Me! protest show at this coffee shop I go to, and no one warned me. I walked into a hornet's nest. So I was baited into a confrontation; some drunk kid got in my face. It's just fucking stupid.

Gabel was also a little on the defensive, attacking the band's less open–minded fans saying:

The argument the punk scene is making about mainstream culture is totally irrelevant now –– technology is changing everything, and they're still talking about $5 shows and seven–inch records. . We wanted the album to be polarizing, we wanted it to break us out of being stuck as just a punk band, but it's taking some time.

[Some people], their minds were made up before they even heard the record, and there's nothing I can do to change that, especially since they're basing their opinions on totally inconsequential factors, like the label it's on or the production value.