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Uptown Magazine - Winnipeg's Online Source for Arts, Entertainment & News

March 20, 2008


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2008-03-20

Against Me! against the world

Florida punkers battle backlash as they have a successful record, tour with Foo Fighters

Jen Zoratti

Things sure have changed for Against Me! since 1997.

The band actually began its life as a solo acoustic vehicle for then 17-year-old Tom Gabel - but after a few members joined the fold, his Against Me! project morphed into a political, folk-punk pulpit for the unusually literate, angry young frontman.

In the years that followed, the feral Gainesville, Fla. band became an underground success, thanks to three great, pissed-off punk records and a solid fanbase of similarly minded, pissed-off punks.

So, when the self-proclaimed anti-establishment, anti-capitalist Against Me! made its major-label debut on Sire Records last summer with the album New Wave, the recording was, not surprisingly, met with mixed response. Punk purists hated it, critics were divided, and Spin listed it as its favourite record of 2007 in its year-end Top 40.

But, if you ask any member of the band - which is rounded out by Andrew Seward (bass), Warren Oakes (drums) and James Bowman (guitar) - the album isn't nearly as polarizing for them as it was for everyone else.

"It's flattering when people like your record, I'm not gonna lie to you," says Seward, on the phone from a tour stop in Council Bluffs, Iowa. "But the best thing is that we're all totally happy with it."

That said, many old-school fans don't share the band's (or Spin's) enthusiasm for the considerably more rock-oriented record.

"The punk jury is always a jury and they'll always be ridiculing something," Seward says.

"You can't let that shit get to you. It was the same with our last record, Searching for a Former Clarity. People were like, 'Oh fuck, what is this shit?' Now, they're like, 'Oh, I loved Searching for a Former Clarity.' It's the cycle."

Seward may sound dismissive, but his band has been fighting cries of 'sell out' since long before the release of New Wave. When the quartet made the seemingly innocuous decision to sign to California pop punk imprint Fat Wreck Chords for 2003's As the Eternal Cowboy and 2005's Searching ..., the tires on its tour van were slashed.

When the band signed to Warner subsidiary Sire in 2005, it was prepared to deal with the subsequent backlash. After all, for the guys in the band, moving to the big leagues seemed like the next obvious step.

"Signing with Sire was like a weight off our shoulders," Seward says. "We own our decision. We knew people would shit on it, but it was our decision."

Judging by the blistering New Wave, it was the right one. The band may have traded in its DIY punk for arena-ready rock 'n' roll - single Thrash Unreal was arguably the anthem of 2007 - but Against Me! is still the clever, angst-filled rebel it always was. Hotly political, powerfully anthemic and smartly cheeky, New Wave still falls in line with the leftist punk ethos the band set out with, even if its execution isn't esthetically punk.

"It was completely Tom's brainchild," Seward says of the record. "We'd flesh it out during soundchecks. It was the complete opposite of the record before, where we'd practice for six hours a day. This one was really enjoyable."

While the band's previous outings have been the result of quick, DIY, in-and-out recording sessions, Against Me! opted to work with a producer this time around, enlisting sonic wizard and famed Nirvana producer Butch Vig.

"It was amazing to work with him," Seward says. "He's our friend. He's a totally nice, Midwestern guy who loves rock music and hanging out."

To obstinate punk ex-fans, working with Butch Vig and playing arenas on a shared bill with the Foo Fighters might be selling out - but it's not as though Against Me! is without its supporters. The band has been steadily gaining a new following - and now, thanks to its current stint with the Foos, has access to arena bowls full of would-be fans.

"People are here to see the Foo Fighters, so it's definitely more of a challenge for us," Seward says of the current tour. "It's more fun, in a way. It makes us work harder. It's not like our shows, where people know the words. We're so spoiled at our own shows - spoiled in a good way."

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