Thursday, January 22, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

CDVS

Given the strong opinions people have about the Bush administration and post-9/11 paranoia, it's shocking that more punk bands haven't used their music as a forum to address the state of the world. In fact, it's an outrage that, when it comes to name-dropping the most politically fervent of musicians, you're more likely to hear pop figures like the Dixie Chicks and Sheryl Crow than you would any Warped Tour participant. Sure, there are several underground artists referencing the sad state of global affairs, and NOFX has actually garnered radio airplay for its catchy single, "Franco Un-American." But much of the high-exposure punk rock limits its thematic conflict to heartbreak, alienation and bad parenting, looking more inward than outward.

Two punk-oriented acts recently released albums that approach war and conflict in a very different way: using war and political discontent to say something about personal struggles, and vice versa. There's little by way of contrived, obligatory sloganeering or ham-fisted clichés--both records reflect a modern expression of anger and a hunger for change. And they're accessible enough to be absorbed by the most apolitical demographic out there: 18- to 25-year-olds.

Exit English--the sophomore album by Strike Anywhere, from Richmond, Va.--is perhaps exactly how you'd imagine a modern, hardcore-influenced punk band to artistically represent sociopolitical issues: driving 4/4 and 5/8 rhythms, strident guitar riffing, screaming protest. However, its ardor is more resonant thanks to the band's matured sense of melody. "Blaze" starts off as a hardcore rant in favor of resistance--peaking when singer Thomas Barnett repeatedly begs, "Don't misdirect your rage!"--but the chorus is reminiscent of a Bad Religion radio hook. Similarly, the urgent "Infrared" is filled with several entry points as Matt Smith's guitar wails, holding back only for Barnett to emphasize his impatience ("Wake up, everyone!"). The music finds a happy medium between the tunefulness of Offspring and the guttural violence of At the Drive-In, without the studio slickness.

Then there's New Jersey-based Thursday, whose War All the Time exhibits conflict metaphors and astonishing post-warfare imagery less as a call to arms and more to understand the tumultuous nature of human relationships; lyrically (and sonically) speaking, it's wedged between U2's "New Year's Day" and Metallica's "One," where the subjects' emotional and psychological states are irreversibly affected by hostility. This is most revealed not in the songs--which threaten to bleed into each other at times--but the lyrics, the most engaging aspect of Thursday's music.

It's easy to see why the kids have gotten behind Thursday--singer Geoff Rickly means 110 percent of what he sings. He's not as interested in the soapbox as Barnett--who's also more of a throat-shredder--but Rickly and his crew are more aesthetically minded (hence the "arty emo" accusations). Rather than pitting the bands against each other, these works are actually complementary, offering two different--and original--sides of the new combat rock.--Mike Prevatt