Nowhere Generation ［LP+7inch］＜Red & Red Black Splatter Vinyl/限定盤＞

The ninth full-length outing from the veteran punk outfit, Nowhere Generation is both apoplectic and refined. The bands social-political fervor remains front and center -- themes of social inequality, climate change, and income disparity loom large -- but after two decades spent raging against the machine, Rise Against no longer need the sonic exclamation points to back those positions up. To be fair, the 11-track set is far from tame, as evidenced by the fiery opener The Numbers, Broken Dreams, Inc., and the anthemic title cut, all of which hit hard. Cut from the same tattered, inclusive cloth as Bad Religion and Against Me!, Rise Against have never favored aggression over melody, and Nowhere Generation is generously stocked with hooks, as well as deep currents of nostalgia. Regret casts a long shadow on the sparse, chamber-punk ballad Forfeit, which echoes the orchestral re-imaginings of 2018s Ghost Note Symphonies, but its a relative outlier, as the remainder of Nowhere Generation focuses on the marriage of melody and might. Over the years, Rise Against have remained true to both their old-school melodic punk style and their human/animal rights beliefs, and while they may be getting longer in the tooth, their incisors are still sharp enough to draw blood. Nowhere Generation may lack the nervy zeal of peak efforts like Siren Song of the Counter Culture and Appeal to Reason, but it most certainly has the gravitas. ~ James Christopher Monger

海外フェスでは常連選手として名を馳せるシカゴ発の4人組。レーベル移籍第1弾となるこの通算9作目では、2作目から前々作までタッグを組んでいたビル・スティーヴンソンを改めてプロデューサーに起用。硬派な歌メロに胸を焦がされる"Talking To Ourselves"に象徴されるように、社会や政治に対する怒りを込めたメッセージ・アルバムとなった。ピュアな心情を忘れないパンク衝動に拳を振り上げ、大声で歌いたくなる一枚だ。
bounce (C)荒金良介