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Bad Religion: True north

12/03/13 || Sokaris

This guy right here doesn’t know punk. Not at all. I’ve got a Misfits CD that I snagged from a pawn shop for like a dollar, more because I felt like I SHOULD like it than any kind of burning desire to own the album. And in the end I’d honestly rather listen to metal bands cover that particular ghoulish troupe or just listen to Danzig’s solo stuff than start wearing skeleton gloves and dying my hair.

I found a lot to like in 80’s hardcore and crossover but mostly my ears perk up when a band gets closer to the rigid and riffier tropes of the era’s thrash metal and further away from the genre’s strum driven origins.

The fact I’m reading about Bad Religion on Wikipedia proves my ignorance of the genre. I just remember the old Rockabilia ads in Metal Edge and shudder Hit Parader where their bold “crossed-out cross” emblem adorned whatever overpriced crap that douchebag company was selling… those fuckers still owe me for a Moonspell shirt I bought from them that didn’t actually exist… ANYWAY…

I’m stalling, so let’s dive in.

The songs are, understandably straightforward and bouncy. Generally the band goes full-steam ahead for the verses and introduces a big hook for the chorus, replete with “woah’s” and the like. With a song like single “Fuck you” (I’m sure some label guy was wondering if they could pull a Cee Lo Green and do a “nice” version of it) this works in spades. I imagine the middle fingers go flying during that song’s live rendition.

“Hello cruel world” breaks things up with a slightly more somber, more mid-tempo sway. Are there ballads in punk rock? It adds some needed diversity to the album’s middle chunk, so while it might not be a highlight based on its songwriting strengths, it’s still a standout just for being the liberty-spiked red-headed stepchild. Because of this departure, “Vanity” comes across even stronger, kicking the tempo up further than before and sprinkling a damn catchy fairly “metal” chorus guitar line… and then ending immediately.

“Crisis time” really strikes me as a plodder but there’s that post-chorus bit that brings the song up a bit. A strong, dramatic riff… and shit, I’m just looking for the quais-metal parts, the ones that reveal the shared roots and rubbings-off of the two main offshoots of aggressive guitar-driven music.

I suppose the main draw to punk music is the raw energy. Well, while there’s plenty of energy I would appreciate a bit more rawness myself. The guitars are represented with a nice full, organic-sounding tone but they seem a bit neutered overall; leashed in, tamed down and taught to play well with others and share. A little scratchy brightness and rumbly low-end would be an improvement. The cleaned up guitar does allow for the bass to come through a bit more and there’s a cool four-string fill in the title track opener that really shines through. Drums retain a nice natural sound but I wouldn’t mind a bit more punch in the cymbals. That’s more of a nitpick than anything because both the performance and production of the album’s percussion is well-handled. I suppose that brings us to the vocals, something I feel completely, absolutely, overwhelmingly neutral on. Dude straddles the line between being overly saccharine and just shouting his head off. Inoffensive to me but I’d like to hear him sound a bit more pissed (either the American or international definition works). Then again I mellow out to Accept so everything sounds better angry to me.

At the end of the day I don’t really like punk. I don’t have a problem with it, if someone put this on at a party it wouldn’t bother me at all. Hell, whiskey, punk rock and a group of people sound like a great combination. But right now I’m stone cold sober, it’s 10 in the morning and to me this sounds pretty much just okay. But I’m a goddamn longhair so add a point or three to the final score if you’re more punk-inclined than I.

Information
Released: 2013
Label: Epitaph
Website: www.badreligion.com
Band
Greg Graffin: vocals
Brett Gurewitz: guitar, vocals
Brian Baker: guitar
Greg Hetson: guitar
Jay Bentley: bass, vocals
Brooks Wackerman: drums

Tracklist
01. True north
02. Past is dead
03. Robin Hood in reverse
04. Land of endless greed
05. Fuck you
06. Dharma and the bomb
07. Hello cruel world
08. Vanity
09. In their hearts is right
10. Crisis time
11. Dept. of false hope
12. Nothing to dismay
13. Popular consensus
14. My head is full of ghosts
15. The island
16. Changing tide.

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