ALBUM REVIEW: Nowhere Generation – Rise Against
With a global pandemic putting humanity to the test, we’ve spent so much time sat on our sofas soaking up the selective reporting bias of the evening news. We’ve been so sucked into infection rates that we’ve forgotten to focus on the politics that punishes us far beyond the pandemic. Protest music in a pandemic might sound somewhat redundant, yet it’s more important than ever as political punk veterans RISE AGAINST suggest on their urgent ninth album, Nowhere Generation.
Nowhere Generation arrives at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency; the campaign of which the Chicagoans proudly protested on 2017’s Wolves. Bookended by the bleakness of one of America’s arguably more controversial political movements, RISE AGAINST cultivate a call-to-arms to the ‘Nowhere Generation‘ – the millennials, gen Y’s and gen Z’s – against a scathing critique of the American Dream in the modern age.
Inspired as much by the political events the pandemic has eclipsed as they are by the clutches of fatherhood they’ve been distilling in, there’s a sense of urgency seeping back into the band that went wandering into the wilderness way back on 2014’s underwhelming The Black Market. As the opening salvo of left-wing socialist anthem L’Internationale ushers in the rallying cry of The Numbers, it’s abundantly clear that the political landscape we’ve lost ourselves in over the last four years has fuelled the fire in their bellies once more.
Sudden Urge is a seismic slab of thrash-infused arena-rock with a riff that ripples across the track’s waves; before giving way to RISE AGAINST’s catchiest chorus since Saviour, a sing-along that shoots through the very nerves of your brain. Rules Of Play is a sonic successor to Appeal To Reason’s From Heads Unworthy; a masterclass in making a drum pattern sound like an imperial march from Brandon Barnes alongside a warping whirlpool of a guitar line courtesy of lead guitarist Zach Blair. Talking To Ourselves is a FIDLAR-esque skate-punk salute sonically that captures the band’s inner battle between taking a stand and staying silent, vocalist Tim McIllrath passionately declaring: “I never wanted to disturb the peace, but it feels like no one’s listening.”
As much as the aforementioned songs are moments of sonic progression for a band who’ve grown from emulating PENNYWISE and SOCIAL DISTORTION’s power-pop punk rock to a formidable festival-fronting force; Nowhere Generation is all too often watered down by the safety net they slip themselves into. It’s safe to say that since The Black Market, RISE AGAINST have stuck to their guns and set out their stall with a fairly formulaic approach. There’s the token acoustic number – the hauntingly hopeful, goosebump-inducing Forfeit. There’s the token screamo number – the headbang-inducing Sooner Or Later. There’s the token ‘we’re still punk, we promise’ number – the pit-promising smash-and-grab attack of Middle Of A Dream. Arguably, they’re all miles ahead of the mark-missing moments that bogged down The Black Market and the latter end of Wolves, yet occasionally send ripples of repetition running through an otherwise stellar album.
Thematically, Tim McIllrath shifts into the megaphone-wielding elder statesmen of a set of generations on the brink of disrepair. As much a political commentary as it is a critique of the American Dream, or lack thereof in the 21st Century; Nowhere Generation is round-after-round of rally cries and call-to-arms. Every single line is shot out vehemently, impassioned bursts that break through the eardrums and nestle in. Sudden Urge captures the catch-22 of the crisis the youth of today are confronted with from birth, as Tim protests: “In this fight you started, I’m a moving target, and I’m sick of running, but the pain keeps coming like a sudden urge…”
Whilst Nowhere Generation occasionally falls for its predecessors failings, it’s arguably the band‘s finest hour since 2011‘s Endgame. Channelling their rallying cries through a sonic sense of urgency, RISE AGAINST have curated a collection of protest songs that pave the way for a whole new era of politically-conscious individuals to take the stage and make a stand.
Rating: 8/10
Nowhere Generation is set for release on June 4th via Loma Vista Recordings.
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