Alright, Against Me! fans, this isn’t New Wave, but it’s not Vivida Vis either. It’s different from their other records, but do Tom Gabel a solid and give this album a chance at love! If Flava Flav and Brett Michaels can find love multiple times, you can give White Crosses the time it needs to 100% grow on you. They still sound like Against Me! despite not repeating the sound from all of their other albums. I’ll defend Tom Gabel to the ends of this earth, but I’ll let my bias aside and judge each track with precision so you can make the decision on whether (ha ha!) you’ll give it a chance or not.

01. White Crosses This one reminds me of old Green Day, with the reverb on the vocals. The chorus has such a catchy melody and I love the rhythm of this track. The lyrics are creative. It’s named after drugs, so of course there is a reference to amphetamines for those of you who enjoy songs that have to do with drugs. I really enjoy the sort of anti-religion feel it gives off. ” I’ll make my way back home to you, head north on San Marco Avenue. White crosses on the church lawn, I want to smash them all. I want to smash them all”

GRADE: 85

02. I Was a Teenage Anarchist Of course, what would an Against Me! album be without a song about being an anarchist. I don’t mind the repetitiveness in the albums. Nothing about it stands out to me really. You can’t win them all. There’s nothing wrong with it, I’m just not blown away.  But I do love how you can tell it’s straight from Tom’s heart. He’s telling a story with this track and it’s nice. “Do you remember when you were young and you wanted to set the world on fire?”

GRADE: 65

03. Because of the Shame It’s a tricky song. It starts out with happy back vocals singing with an enticing guitar but once you really get into the song, you realize it’s about an old really close girlfriend dying. It’s an adorable story, but it is incredibly sad. If you’ve been through the death of a loved one, no matter the situation, this song will most likely get to you. “I’m not sure what I meant to you then, so I’m not sure what I owe you now. But if something I said hurt you I swear it was not my intention. With your name tattoo’d into my skin. Because of the shame I associate with vulnerability I am numbing myself completely.”

GRADE: 75

04. Suffocation Definitely a contender for my favorite track on the album. It has my favorite intro and it’s extremely conceptual. Against Me! does a lot of songs where the chorus is just a line repeated – it’s rarely annoying. It’s always to make a point stand out and this song is no different. It shows a lot of what our lives have come down to in America. I appreciate the honesty.  I love the significance of the one guitar riff ( if you listen to the song you’ll know what I’m talking about). “Homosexual sons of unfulfilled fathers. Divorced from reality, free and young.”

GRADE: 94

05. We’re Breaking Up This song gets really confusing at the end. Is it a break up song or not? I have no idea. I like to ignore the last few lines and use it as a seemingly sweet way to break up with a person you’ve been with for a long time. The piano gives the song a more ‘love song’ feel, which is certainly different for Against Me!  It’s definitely not my favorite on the record and I could’ve done without it. “This is the only voice I know. These are the only words I have. This is the only way I know how to say, we’re not in love anymore”

GRADE: 64

06. High Pressure Low I love the flow of this track. Tom has such a cool way of singing. It’s a whole song about world-wide struggles in the 1960′s, which is really cool. If you don’t get the lyrics, don’t be afraid to google the 60′s so you can better understand the song – you won’t regret it. It’s a sweet track and a history lesson all in one! Who could ask for more? ”There’s just no future left for us to dream of, living in an era of instability.”

GRADE: 95

07. Ache With Me Let me start with this – I LOVE THIS TRACK. The use of acoustic guitar was SUCH a good idea. It really pulls the song together. It’s quite a pretty song. It’s about having all sorts of hopes and dreams when you’re young, and as you get older, you get to a place where you can’t just spend all of your time chasing them and you become cynical about those dreams. You begin to resent everything you wanted but never got. Does that make sense? Just listen to the song. “Do you share the same sense of defeat? Have you realized all the things you’ll never be?”

GRADE: 95

08. Spanish Moss Not sure what the significance of looking into Spanish moss is, but it looks like this.  I guess since it grows in Florida and the band is based in Florida, they use it as, like, a memory sparking figure. There are very good uses of  ‘whoa’s and ‘aye-aye-aye’s’. I’m a big fan of the ‘whoa’s’. Just sayin’. The lyrics are positive and it’s always nice to have a positive track every now and then. “Everything we’ve said and done, can be so easily forgotten. You can always change who you are.”

 GRADE: 84

09. Rapid Decompression I always hate short song because they always make me upset. I wanted this track to have at least one more verse. Tom is so insightful and I love his clever lyrics. I had a hard time picking out the one line I liked best. This is definitely a crack on our society, and a good one at that. I do not approve of how repetitive the ending is. I wanted so much mooooore. But the song brings a lot of ‘AMEN’s’ out of me – yeah, I hate everyone. ”How can you expect from someone what you won’t do yourself?”

GRADE: 83

10. Bamboo Bones I hope you read all the way to this track’s review because it is, hand’s down, the best track on the album! It has such a killer message, it has melody, a catchy-memorable-get-stuck-in-your-head-all-day-and-have-you-singing-along chorus. The drums are fantastic – you go new Warren Oakes! I’m awkwardly obsessed with this song. Get on my bandwagon. ”What god doesn’t give to you, you’ve got to go and get for yourself.”

GRADE: 94

I’d say it was a pretty solid album. I laughed, I cried, I danced a little bit. Okay I didn’t really dance, but if I wasn’t so lazy and if my bed wasn’t so comfortable I would have. I was really excited that this album leaked so early. I could NOT wait for it to come out in July but I’ll still buy the hard  copy of the album. And, to be honest, I don’t usually buy albums.

REPORT CARD

Instruments: 94
Production: 85
Lyrics: 84
Vocals: 95

OVERALL
86