Two Albums For The Working Class Punk Out There (Part II)

Ever come across an album that you can listen to from start to end, then repeat the process over and over? I’ve had the privilege of getting not one but two in the same week. The Gaslight Anthem’s American Slang and Against Me! White Crosses are two 5 star albums that I’ve been listening to in rotation since getting them.

White Crosses harvests the anger but in a good way. “White Crosses on the church lawns, I wanna smash them all”  is howled on the first track. Now taking a step back and really thinking about that line, Against Me! are not atheist or heathens, they are just attacking organized religion: the real evil.

The first single, “I Was A Teenage Antichrist,” makes you remember how we were all young once and how trendy trends tend to get, and how we realize that they are all bullshit and lies after a while. “Because of The Shame” has a beautiful piano opener accompanied by a great “Woooo” sing along that gets you at first listen. It’s about burying an old girlfriend and trying to move on with “my name tatto’d into your skin.”

“High Pressure Low”  has so many words and it truely is amazing how you can rock to a song with the following line: “7 missiles flying over the Sea of Japan. Tales of feral children sleeping in wolf dens. And the pious preacher commands. I hold my breath in anticipation.” Hahhaha. It rocks , oh yes it does!

“Rapid Decompression” is a great mosh pit (do those things still exsist) tune. Against Me! like Gaslight Anthem also have great harmonies as well. I see alot of influences here ranging from Tom Petty to Bruce Springsteen to The Clash. You wont be disappointed -NZA

Against Me! is Tom Gabel (Vocals/Guitars), James Bowman (Guitars), Andrew Seward (Bass), & George Rebelo (Drums).

Track Listing:

1. “White Crosses”
2. “I Was a Teenage Anarchist”
3. “Because of the Shame”
4. “Suffocation”
5. “We’re Breaking Up”
6. “High Pressure Low”
7. “Ache With Me”
8. “Spanish Moss”
9. “Rapid Decompression”
10. “Bamboo Bones”
11. “One By One”
12. “Bob Dylan Dream”
13. “Lehigh Acres”
14. “Bitter Divisions”