Very few bands are able to wax poetic on contentious social issues quite like Rise Against. If we can dust off an old Australianism, it might just be socially charged punk rock, but it’s what Rise Against do with it that has solidified them as one of the loudest, and most articulate, bands to have graced our corner of the music universe.
And just as the world begins to overflow with fuckery, the band have announced their return with their new full-length record Nowhere Generation, set to hit shelves both physically and digitally not a moment too soon on Friday, 4th June.
The band have fired the first steel-eyed warning shot from the release, the title track no less, calibrating their sites as they zero in on their main target: “The Calculated Annihilation of Achieving The American Dream,” listing big business and big politics as the intended casualties.
It isn’t just the fat cats in Rise Against’s crosshairs. Nowhere Generation, both album and single, are positioned to be a critique of mainstream pop culture, an equally as contentious topic that may even make some listeners sweat.
“I’ve come to realize that people want honesty and that music can be a catalyst for change”, says frontman Tim McIlrath. “I think in many ways, we’ve been on a mission to rile people up, and I feel very lucky to be able to do that. Our hope on this record is to jostle people awake, even it if makes you uncomfortable.”
Rather than merely sitting at the back of the class and heckling, Rise Against aim to instill hope with Nowhere Generation, adds bassist Joe Principe. “I listened to bands like 7 Seconds, Bad Brains, Minor Threat, and Bad Religion. All of those bands’ music had a sense of hope with the world, a truly positive global view of what life can be. From the beginning, we’ve wanted Rise Against to have that same positivity, to have our music be an inspiration for people to bring about change in their own lives, they just have to put forth the effort and speak up.”
We can chew on the lead single below to tide us over until release date but per the language surrounding the release, and the aforementioned intentions made known to the universe, our only other course of action seems to be to brace for impact.
