Against Me!

Reinventing Axl Rose (2002)

Zak

There's really no way to describe the sound of Against Me!. I suppose the best description would be political folk punk rock, but even that would be incorrect. This is a tough album to classify. One thing stands clear, however. Against Me! really pulls off a great album. Bringing together a hardcore sound and putting it with acoustic instruments works out well for this group.

This album is easy to recommend to fans of Billy Bragg and the Dropkick Murphys. That Irish barroom sing along spirit is evident in songs like "Pints of Guiness Make You Strong" and "Baby, I'm an Anarchist," while the political lyrics are evident in the latter and "Those Anarcho Punks Are Mysterious…." These songs just have to be listened to to really understand how good this album actually is. Theres so many influences in here, its impossible to find them all. In "I Still Love You Julie (Dance Mix 2002)," you can almost notice a ska beat going through parts of the song. In "Jordan's First Choice," the beginning has shreds of hardcore coming through. While "Scream It Until You're Coughing Up Blood" has sort of a "desperado" country sound to it.

This album has to be heard to truly understand how awesome it is. The scrachy vocals mixed with the acoustics give the tracks so much passion, but the lyrics remind you that it's still hardcore punk rock. Trust me here. If your looking for looking for enjoyable music from an anarcho punk group, pick this up immediatly. But even if your not, Against Me! will still make you wanna grab a lighter and start swayin'.