Friday, September 23, 2011

25 Albums. #07: The Acoustic EP by Against Me!

First things first. I realize this is an EP. I also realize that this is technically self titled. Moving on.

I love Against Me!. In high school I had all those typical conflicting feelings about the band, but I've given up on trying to hate them for the sake of hating them. There are some songs I think are stupid, but I'm not afraid to admit that I still like some of their newer releases.

That said, the Acoustic EP is still my favorite Against Me! release. It's raw and powerful enough to grab my attention and short enough to not get boring. This was still when Tom Gabel was still finding his voice, so some cuts are stronger than others (his vocals on "Reinventing Axl Rose" are pretty high up there in range in comparison to other songs) but The Acoustic EP doesn't have a bad track which is saying something because I've found faults with at least one song on every other album.

I rank it as an album that had a profound effect on me because it was the first folk punk release that I had really enjoyed. I was aware of a few bands of the genre, but Against Me! was the best. Their song writing was fluid, the musicianship was tight and the production was slick, but still pleasant to the ear. Those were all the same reasons I loved Minor Threat more than every other hardcore band. It was love upon first listen.

I don't think I'm really doing this EP justice. For me though, it's the pinnacle of folk punk. Highly recommended.

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