I guess the only way to get shit done around here is by violent means. At least that's Against Me! frontman Tom Gabel's approach.I'm kidding. Sort of. Tom Gabel was arrested back in 2007 for getting into a bar fight and slamming some guy's head down on a table, which turns me on, oddly enough.
I've been listening to the Florida based foursome for about six years now and seen them live once at ACL in 2008. Here's a picture from their performance, but you can't even see them. I swear I was closer, it just looks like I'm miles away!
I absolutely love their passion and enthusiasm for everything that's wrong with society. They've got balls, and they use them accordingly.So far, Against Me! has released five full-length studio albums. Their debut album, Reinventing Axl Rose, came out in 2002. "Baby, I'm An Anarchist" has to be one of my all-time favorite songs. As The Eternal Cowboy made waves in 2003. I recommend "Sink, Florida, Sink" and "You Look Like I Need a Drink." Their next album was Searching For a Former Clarity in 2005. This one's even more anti-politics than their other albums with "From Her Lips To God's Ears (The Energizer)" sadistically serenading Condoleeza Rice and "Unprotected Sex With Multiple Partners" about the corruptness within the recording industry. New Wave graced our ears in 2007 with a slightly poppier sound, but you could still feel the brutality. Check out "Thrash Unreal" about the consequences of hard drug use and "Animal." The band's most recent album, White Crosses, has only been out for a couple of months, and I have to say I'm disappointed. Maybe it's the new label or just Tom Gabel getting softer in his old age (he's only 29!), but, whatever the reason, the album's more about gush than fist fights. They almost have a...hold your breath...Green Day vibe going on. Seriously. I do like "White Crosses" and some of "I Was A Teenage Anarchist" in which Gabel actually sings "Do you remember when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire?" Pretty much admitting he's a softy now.
Softy or not, he's still as adorable as ever, and now he and his wife, artist Heather Gabel, have a little baby. Congrats to the couple. Now, go find your RAGE, Tom!!!
