Rise against

Thrasher Magazine, Sept, 2003 by ReTodd

ANARCHO-CRUSTO-GLOOMY-KILL-O PUNK is coal because it sounds like bombs in your stereo, but when you want to get some helpful information--like what the flick they're singing about--the pickings are slim. Rise Against skirts that quicksand and lights a musical bomb by sticking the unlikely fuse of Descendents/All hookiness into the powder keg of political insight of bands like Strike Anywhere and Against Me!

Rise Against's sophomore grenade-of-an-album's got a few things figured out that lesser bands never quite put together. Not only is the musical explosion loud and clear, with hooks like shrapnel, they've grown up far enough to embrace lyrics that delve into more pertinent matters than stabbing pigs in the face with sharpened studded bracelets. Don't get it wrong. Rise Against's got none of that white-belted "I Gave My Love a Cherry" emo lint that would have Bluto Blutarski smashing their guitars into smithereens. They just have a way to make the personal political, and visa-versa. The tentative first step to widespread change is to have others understand what you're saying.

There's also a hardness to Revolutions Per Minute that isn't laughable--which belies the long-term commitment found in some members' previous outfit, 88 Fingers Louie. It's a toughness that comes from breaking down, not giving up, and rising up again; not by high school jocks wrestling with their sexuality and channeling that confusion into bad music.

In a day and time where the FCC just approved the legalization of a media monopoly, be damn sure that the TV, national news, and radio are all gearing up to dumb you up. They're drooling at the chance to strap you into safe songs covered with more pads than an upper class kid learning to skate.

Bands like Rise Against are going to make sure it's not a clean sweep.

RELATED ARTICLE: TOP FIVES WITH TIM FROM RISE AGAINST

REVOLUTIONARIES

1. Howard Zinn

2. Noam Chomsky

3. Every good school teacher in America.

The most important people are the most underpaid

4. Che Guevara

5. Michael Moore

PSEUDO-REVOLUTIONARIES

1. Britney Spears

2. Michael Jackson

3. Juan Cueller Jr

4. Tobias Jeg

5. Stacy Peralta

1980'S MTV HIP-HOP VIDEOS

1. "Parents Just Don't Understand"--DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince

2. "Walk This Way"--Run DMC & Aerosmith

3. "Fight For Your Right"--Beasite Boys

4. "I'm Gonna Knock You Out"--LL Cool J

5. "Funky Cold Medina"--Tone Loc

WAYS KIDS UNDER 18 CAN GET INVOLVED IN THE ELECTION PROCESS

1. Go to Punkvoter.com for info on elections (stay informed regardless of your age)

2. Volunteer to help your favorite candidate

3. Pay fucking attention to what's going on around you!

4. That's all I have at the moment, suckas

WAYS KIDS CAN SNEAK BEER INTO A SHO

1. Poor booze into coke cans

2. Put it in your girlfriend's purse and, if caught, let her take the fall while you enjoy the show Dare I go on being a straightedge lame-o?

WAYS TO UP THE ADVANCE FROM FAT MIKE

1. Golf with him and let him win

2. Scare him with brut force (Chicago style)

3. Hold Bruiser hostage

4. Impose a drug-free zone at Fat until demands are met

5. Tell him we'll take Chicken off his hands

CHICAGO 'ZINES

1. Found

2. Stop Smiling

3. Jaded in Chicago

4. Punk Planet

5. Horizontal Action

WAYS TO PROCURE A HANGOVER

1. Hang out with the Fat Wreck employees

2. Go on a European tour

3. Um, go on any tour for that matter

4. Go on a date with a case of beer. Bring it back to your place. It'll put out, trust me

5. Um yeah, drink fool

RAGE AGAINST SONGS

1. "Bulls on Parade"

2. Zach's old band Inside Out was better

WAYS TO REMEDY A HANGOVER

1. Listen to Rise Against

2. Drink more beer

3. Breakdance

4. Ride a unicycle while juggling

5. Go to church kiddies, and pray

CHICAGO SKATERS OF ALL TIME

1. Jesse Neuhaus

2. Joe Principe

3. Eric Murphy

4. Johnny Fonseca

5. Steve Dread

CHICAGO BANDS OF ALL TIME

1. Pegboy

2. Blue Meanies

3. Articles Of Faith

4. Naked Raygun

5. Screeching Weasel

URBAN MYTHS

1. Eating Pop Rocks with Pepsi will cause your stomach to explode

2. Juan Cueller is a sexual dynamo

3. Loch Ness Monster (does exist, ask The Real McKenzies)

4. If you open your eyes while sneezing your eyes will pop out of your head

5. Urban Trth: If you make a funny face, your face will in fact stay like that (look at GW)

--Sam Pell