The worlds of punk rock and politics have constantly found themselves intertwined. Most bands in this subgenre are fueled by angst and anger, while others use humor to broach important issues. New York City's Scott Wolff, however, has taken a much more heartfelt approach with his solo project, Resistors. Taking cues from earlier folk and singer/songwriter movements, he has put forth an entire album full of modern day punk rock protest songs. Rational Policy for the 19th Century finds this liberally-minded rocker using each song to tackle a different problem currently looming in the forefront of our society. Musiclly speakingly, Resistors finds himself making catchy punk rock tunes and drawing from a host of influences. He is able to combine the lyrically-driven, blue collar sound of The Street Dogs, melodic skate punk of Face to Face, and the harder, darker style of Good Riddance, resulting in a fairly straight forward, though quite distictive, punk rock album that never lulls and keeps your feet tapping throughout. Resistors may not be reinventing wheel, here, but he's certaintly showing the scene exactly how it should roll.

Throughout Rational Policy for the 19th Century (out on All Hits Media Empire), Wolff takes the time to dissect multiple issues facing our country. Obviously inspired by the current divisive political climate, he uses his platform to bark back at the powers that be. Rife with metaphors, personality, and a few not-so-subtle "fuck you"s to a certain sitting president, this record has Resistors coming across as intelligent and thoughtful, but also aggressive and contemptful. Wolff advocates for common sense gun control laws in "Your Cold dead Hands" while railing against the opioid epidemic in support of legal marijuana with "This is Your Brain". "Drag" takes shots at the hypocrisy of organized religion and "Totally Rational" condemns the recent resurgence in neo-nazi sentiment and all those in Washington that turn a blind eye to their hatred. While the album deals with a variety of topics, each song is clear and consistlently finds Resistors on what I believe to be the right - or rather, left - side of history.

What's happening in America isn't normal. We currently find ourselves in a situation I never thought we would see in modern times- a president and administration that fuel the fires of hatred with rhetoric, propaganda, and lies. This isn't a simple policy dispute over the fundamental political differences between liberalism and conservatism - this is about morality, decency, and the general welfare and safety of other human beings. It is imperative that artists, such as Scott Wolff continue to scream their dismay from whatever soapbox they choose. We will stand together and we will overcome as long as we demand change, and often times, such revolutions begin with a simple, well written, protest song. Luckily, Resistors has just given us a whole album full of them.