Against Me! Those punk kids are at it again!

Against Me!
No Resistance Here

By Dominick Scala

After much deliberation on which artist my opinionated brain would like to write about this week (A. not that there are a whole hell of a lot to choose from in South Florida, and B. It is winter none-the-less) I narrowed my quest upon two talented performers, Tegan & Sara and Against Me! I decided on Against Me! for the sole reason that they are local Floridians and yes, that takes precedence. Oddly enough, Tegan & Sara are one of Against Me!’s top friends on Myspace. As well as (off topic I know) a band called Future of the Left (truly fantastic band).

It was 1997 in the college party town of Gainesville, when 17-year-old Tom Gabel began performing with his acoustic guitar and his lone voice wherever anyone would have him. Much of his style and influence seemed to be drawn from the earlier folky poetic protest music. Gabel’s first recordings were on a cassette called “Against Me.” Apparently these tapes are extremely rare, have recently resurfaced on the internet. Eventually Tom began to build a band around his melodies and released a second cassette called “Vivida Vis!” limited to 500 copies.

Slowly settling in with bandmates, the group had some mastering trouble with a self -titled 12-inch, and were only able to put 145 copies into circulation. By 2002, the band was full of electric guitars and was dubbed officially punk-folk rock. In March of that year, they released their first full-length called “Reinventing Axl Rose.” This was a true punk gem, scoring them a solid rep in the punk industry circles. The sound is piled high with urgency and sing-a-longs while remaining raw, intense and dirty.

In 2003, Against Me! signed to Fat Wreck Chords, which released their two subsequent studio albums, as well as the band's only official live album to date. By late 2005 they landed the majors and went onboard with Sire Records. Though there was some fan reluctance (you know the old ‘you’re a sell out’ mentality) Against Me! managed to gain even more (now mainstream) popularity with their “New Wave” (produced by Butch Vig) release, which debuted at No. 57 on the Billboard 200 chart. “New Wave” opened up MTV’s door as well as appearances on Late Night with Conan O' Brien and The Late Show with David Letterman.

The snow ball is rollin’ and in 2008 the boys found themselves supporting the Foo Fighters on their American tour, and Rolling Stone named Against Me? “Best Punk Band.” Last August they went back into the studio with Butch Vig and in October, reportedly finished up their forth-coming title “White Crosses.”

With no word yet on a release date, the band is currently on tour and will play The Culture room, 3045 N. Federal Highway, in Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 and it’s an all ages show.

P.S. If you are interested in Tegan & Sara, they will perform at the Sunset Cove Amphitheater, 12551 Glades Road, in Boca Raton, on Sunday Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 and available through Ticketmaster.com.

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