Dead Yuppies

By the time of this, their third release for Epitaph Records, Agnostic Front was entering their third decade together. It's more than impressive for a punk outfit to last so long -- it's nearly a miracle. Not quite a miraculous collection, Dead Yuppies lacks the immediacy of Agnostic Front's best work. There are enough good moments, however, to outshine the many Generation-X upstarts and also-rans. At first glance, Dead Yuppies projects the image of an Agnostic Front who's living in the past. The choruses are familiar, and even the term "yuppie" sounds a little dated. In the days of this release, it was the high-tech professionals and dot-bomb dreamers rubbing all the underground class warriors the wrong way. So the names might have changed, but that didn't concern Agnostic Front, as the message remained the same. Tracks like "Out of Reach" and "Politician" are staunch reiterations of 20-year themes, like the value of personal freedom, middle-class angst, and the mistrust of the power elite. Familiar in every way, Dead Yuppies will neither disappoint nor astonish fans of Agnostic Front's classic hardcore identity. ~ Vincent Jeffries

スケーターもスキンズも革ジャン着こんだパンクスも、みんなストリートが教科書だった80年代へ〈バック・トゥ・ストリート〉。再結成以降ますます強くなるストレート・パンク・サウンドへの回帰。ロウでスラッシーなギター・サウンドに小気味良いコーラスを聴かせる新作は、結成当時のサウンドをパワーアップして甦らせた印象だ。NYを愛するがゆえの怒りに満ちた訴えは、リアリティーを求めるストリートから届けられる。
bounce (C)田中 拓宏