7

A Punk Sell Out?

Against Me! A Florida based band, are a group who some fans think have abandoned their punk roots and anti-capitalist beliefs and traded them for a major record label, but in all fairness who can blame them? Musicians have to live too, they need to buy food and pay rent like the rest of us, and getting steady wages and the chance to be financially stable sounds a lot more tempting than the constant struggle of local bands that have to play crummy venues for no money, all to please a few hardcore fans.

This track still sounds fairly raw and punk to me, it sounds nothing like the commercialism of bands like Alkaline Trio or recent AFI, but according to fans this more recent work has a more 'rock' sound to it. Against Me! have produced a track that appears to be launching yet another attack of the US Government the lyrics scream 'Condoleeza, What are we going to do now?' It is nowhere near as catchy as Green Day's 'American Idiot' though.

The B side of this single is an electronic remix by Ad-Rock of the Beastie Boys, but it just doesn't work with these vocals I'm afraid. However now the band are releasing material through the Mecca of Punk labels, Fat Wreck Chords, I'm sure the money will continue to roll in, leaving those original fans even more in the dark.