aaamusic | On 11, Oct 2010

Bad Religion are in their own way, bridging the gap between cult and iconic. Although they are figureheads of the LA punk scene, they haven’t quite reached the elevated status of many of their contemporaries, possibly due to their more cerebral and eloquent approach to playing fast and loud. But undeniably they have attained a solid and much deserved cult following and their latest offering, ‘The Dissent Of Man’ is an adrenalin-saturated gem with a brainstem. Slotting 15 songs into 43 minutes, they deliver a healthy blast of punk rock in the vein of a poetic cross between Fugazi and Social Distortion.

Tracks like ‘The Resist Stance’ and ‘Only Rain’ blast the listener with a surprisingly furious cut of hot righteous anger and political statement that is reminiscent of a more polished Crass crossed with Rancid minus ska, but these are made accessible by tempering the bite with gravelly-voiced heartfelt songs like ‘Won’t Somebody’ where the Social Distortion aspect shines through in the emotional lyricism and slower, more melodic approach that still holds a sense of intelligence in its musings on society. It is this approach that yields perhaps the most immediately affecting song on the album: ‘Turn Your Back On Me’, an explosive, heart on sleeve and boots on feet soliloquy that blends soul-searching with an earnest musical unpretentiousness that belies exactly how good the band are at songwriting.

‘The Devil In Stitches’ is possibly the most radio-friendly track here, bringing Bad Religion’s eloquent yet unpretentious lyrical turns to something that flirts with old-school pop punk, however Bad Religion maintain a conscious awareness of writing something with its head firmly away from the clouds. Similarly, ‘Cyanide’ drops a good-naturedly nihilistic restraint similar to Alkaline Trio in growling melodic riffs, and the band’s trademark gang vocal harmonies are used to fantastic effect, creating a glimmering yet deep track to jump into.

However, as if to remedy this dalliance into the world of catchy pop shades, Bad Religion offer up a solid succession of intelligently written and fast-paced rockers. ‘Pride And The Pallor’ is a heartfelt slab of gang vocals and snarling guitar, followed by the blistering punk rock rush of ‘Wrong Way Kids’ with its hurtling drumkit chaos and the moshpit ferocity that opens the seething ‘Meeting Of The Minds’, which opens up the razor-sharp political edges of Bad Religion for the listener to appreciate. ‘Someone To Believe’ then pulls the ghost of The Ramones and hints of The Stooges into the energetic fray with pounding bass and a drumbeat that is bouncing off the walls all underpinning a lightspeed two-chord main riff that leads onto a gleaming, compact guitar solo.

An aggressive, almost discordant buildup with throbbing bass marks the start of ‘Avalon’, before things stamp the accelerator into a pseudo-narrative lyrical stream and galloping yet simple drums, all of which carries three minutes by in what feels like three seconds. Using a similar buildup and rising from ashen feedback like a sonic phoenix comes ‘Ad Hominem’ with snarling outspoken political commentary thrown out over the grounds of a vicious guitar, chugging bass and pulverising drums.

The penultimate track ‘Where The Fun Is’ features a bratty riff that spills out like the caustic guts of a toxic pop song and sneering gang vocals, all churning into a sneering attack. This dissolves into an ominous last note before the closer: ‘I Won’t Say Anything’ kicks in with the band’s no-frills and plenty of passion approach, and possibly one of the best opening lyrics on the album: “He looked just like a zookeeper in a human zoo.” The guitars here are more jangling than snarling in the verses, but once again the laconic tones hide an incisive wisdom right until the final chords.

Of course, it will be said that they have been faster, angrier, louder, more politicised, and all that baggage that surrounds such a long-lived punk band, but Bad Religion are far from a Xerox of their former selves. This dog by all means still has all its teeth sharp enough to bite straight to the heart of its chosen target and it knows exactly how and where to strike time and again. They have, over the decades, gained melody and greater song lengths, but they have by no means committed the heinous crime of “selling out”, and are continuing in an inspirationally passionate fashion down their path of questioning the world around them with the same level of intelligence and power that many bands both new and old could take their cues from.

Author: Katie H-Halinski