Rise Against

It may have taken a few years but the Mystic Megs among us have foreseen the ascension of punk-rock’s political arm for a while now. With the world’s super-powers and their cozening military campaigns descending into near-chaos and absurd religious bickering tearing the heart out of our societies, it seems there’s more than ever for these bands to sink their teeth into - and an ever-growing legion of inquisitive young minds desperate for some direction, too. Even previously apolitical bands have voiced their concerns in the wake of 9/11, and in turn thrusted the likes of *Rise Against *and Anti-Flag into the spotlight, via the usual major label marketing machine.

They’ve certainly come a long way since their inaugural support slot with Sick of it All five years ago, completely selling out the Birmingham Academy tonight with minimal advertising funds, but Rise Against – now in the arms of Geffen – also have the songs to back up their rallying cry, with teenage lungs all around exhaling their diatribes with an unusually zealous devotion.

Something openers *Berri Txarrak *would no doubt love to see five years down the line, but while there’s some definite potential to their soulful, Helmet-inspired rock, its impact seems deadened by a ‘first-band’ volume limit that’s just ridiculously low, especially for a band from the frickin BASQUE COUNTRY. How awesome is that?

Things are rectified slightly for Massachusetts’ A Wilhelm Scream, their name an unsurprising addition to the bill tonight having put the mileage in to make this their third appearance on UK soil this year alone! But while a strategic force-feeding mission might work on some levels, musically AWS’s rushed, overcrowded mix of frantic punk-rock rifferama and relentless three-part vocal chants merely appears confused to these ears, with a distinct lack of identity to boot. Their lyrical message is also made near-impossible to digest, laden with a slew of ambiguous metaphors and diluted through monotonously intense, vein-splitting aggression.

After taking a breather outside from the Academy’s unbearably smoky-atmosphere, we take a deep breath and head in just as Rise Against start to fire up. They’re looking especially exhausted following their over-night drive from Paris, but the crowd chants showering them as they emerge from backstage appear enough of a pick-me-up to get things off to a good start.

Sporting a shaggy mullet and beard, their one-blue/one-brown-eyed frontman Tim McIlrath replaces the miasmic energy of AWS with a focussed, forceful delivery housed within a gritty pop-punk framework that contains welcome traces of bassist Joe’s previous band 88 Fingers Louie. Of course, a crucial talking point when Rise Against announced their signing to a cursed, evil Major Label was whether their sound would be tempered for mass appeal, and on paper the chorus “save us from what we have become”, from ‘Chamber the Cartridge’, suggests it’s a sentiment expressed by the band, also.

It’s utter rubbish, of course, the only remnants of an industry board meeting evident in MTV2 hit ‘Ready to Fall’, but the sheer power with which it communicates with their fans tonight is a true lesson in rabid authenticity. The band leave and McIlrath returns for arguably their finest track, the acoustic ‘Swing Life Away’, in turn instigating a blinding mobile-phone video recording display that lights up the first few rows!

It’s a wonderful end to the night though, proving that while a strong socio-political message is good an’ all, nice solid hooks will always reign supreme.