Sputnik Music Forums - Band Profile: Against Me!

I know I don't post much around here, but I feel it's my duty to make everyone appreciate this band as much as I do.

Against Me!

The Band:
James Bowman - Guitar, Vocals
Andrew Seward- Bass, Vocals
Tom Gabel - Vocals, Guitar
Warren Oakes - Drums

Former Members:
Dustin Fridkin- Bass, Vocals
Kevin Mahon- Drums, Vocals

Releases:

-1997 - Tom’s Demo Tape

-1998 - Vivida Vis! Demo Tape

-V/A We’re Here To Ruin Your Cassette (solo acoustic versions of “Burning Bridges” and “National Myth”)

-2000 - S/T 12" ep

-December 18, 2001 - S/T (a.k.a "Jordan's 1st Choice") Acoustic 7”

-March 1, 2001 - Crime as Forgiven by Against Me! 7"/CDep

-March 2002 - Reinventing Axle Rose LP/CD

-Novemeber 2002 - The Disco Before the Breakdown 7"/Cdep

-February 18, 2003 - S/T (a.k.a "Jordan's 1st Choice") Acoustic CDep (bonus acoustic tracks “Pints Of Guinness Make Your Strong” and “Untitled” a.k.a. “Armageddon”)

-February 18, 2003 - I Like To Hang Out In Gainesville VHS (Walking Is Still Honest)

-March 2003 - V/A The Shape Of Flakes To Come LP/CD

-September 20, 2003 - V/A Against Police Injustice (Baby, I'm An Anarchist!)

-October 8, 2003 – V/A Go Kart MP300 Raceway (electric version of “Pints Of Guinness Make You Strong” and acoustic version of “Reinventing Axl Rose”

-2003 - V/A Experiments In Audio Rocketry LP/CD

-November 4, 2003 - As The Eternal Cowboy LP/CD

-January 9, 2004 - Cavalier Eternal/You Look Like I Need A Drink 7”

-April 20, 2004 – V/A Rock Against Bush Volume 1

-2004 - New Demo

-November 2, 2004 - We're Never Going Home DVD

-April 5, 2005 - V/A Amp Video Archive For The Ages Vol. 1 (Turn Those Clapping Hands Into Angry Balled Fists)

-April 8, 2005 - Sink.Florida.Sink./Unsubstantiated Rumors 7”

-September 6, 2005 - New full length

-Late August 2005 - Don't Lose Touch 12" (Includes remix by Mouse On Mars)

-September 6, 2005 - Searching For A Former Clarity

-2005 - Against Me!/Lucero Split 12”

-October 18, 2005 - V/A Protect: A Benefit For The National Association To Protect Child (Wagon Wheel)

Coming from Gainesville, Florida, these guys manage to mix anarcho, hardcore, folk, pop-punk, rock, and loads of other influences to form one of the most original and well-respected sounds of the punk community. Against Me! have come a long way over 7 years, and now they’re on Fat Wreck Chords touring like a madman, and still putting out great material.

Starting out in 1997, it was just Thomas Gabel: a 17 year-old high-school dropout anarchist from Naples, Florida who had a reputation of being quite the trouble-maker, what with smoking since he was only 12 years old. So anyway, Tom wrote and played acoustic songs, and recorded 10 of them on a demo tape with his four-track. Although Tom has said that it is horrible, I think it’s quite good. One of the live shows Tom put on by himself caught the eye of Chris of Plan-It-X Records.

Then Kevin joined the band in 1998, and they recorded Vivida-Vis! (another awesome demo tape) on Misanthrope Records. I think the band made that record label up and it was really recorded at Tom’s Mothers house, but I could be wrong. Tom switched from acoustic to an acoustic guitar with a pickup at this time. The band then embarked on their first tour in a gutted van. The tour consisted of 13 shows over 2 months.

With these first two demos, the lyrics were very straight forward and anarcho-like. However, there was still a lot of emotion and poetic elements. One of the tracks that stand out from the two demos is “Un-thought Of Heroes,” a very slow song that depicts the lives of lonely individuals and all that they endure mentally. However, some political enlightenment not seen in modern Against Me! songs are “Tearing Down The Walls” “Once Pure,” and “The Price Of Freedom.”

James joined the band in late 1998 - early 1999 and played electric guitar. Dustin joined the band in 1999-2000 and played bass. He had known Tom and played with him in several bands in school. In 2000, Crass Hole records (Baltimore, Maryland) releasd a five-song 12" record. However, it was damaged while it was being shipped and only about 145 copies were released. My favorite song of all time is actually on this very sloppy sounding record- Haste Killed Creativity. The band’s lyrics get more poetic with this “release.”

In December 2000, Thomas and Kevin recorded the Crime EP, consisting of six songs written over the previous two years. This was released in early 2001 as a CD by Plan-It-X Records (Bloomington, IN), and as a 7" record by Sabot Productions (Gainesville, FL). Walking Is Still Honest was re-released on this EP, and sounds a lot cleaner. However, some background vocals are removed (“and I can’t forget that you died for me”). This is the EP that jump-started their career, and rightfully so, it’s amazing.

In mid 2001, the band's van, "Armageddon," was struck by a Mack truck and flipped over. The song “We Did It All For Don” is about this. All were unharmed, but Kevin reevaluated his life and left the band. Warren Oakes from Sarasota, FL soon replaced him.

In summer 2001, Dustin and Thomas recorded 7 songs, six of which would appear on the acoustic ep. Towards the end of 2001, the acoustic EP was released as a 7" on Sabot Productions, and then in early 2003 on CD with two extra tracks (“Pints Of Guinness Make Your Strong” and “Untitled” a.k.a. “Armageddon”).

Against Me! gained much praise for their first real electric
release, “Reinventing Axl Rose.” This was recorded with Tom, Dustin, James, and Warren, and was released on No Idea records in March of 2002. In April 2002, Dustin decided to go back to college, and Andrew replaced him as bassist. That summer, the band recorded three songs from the Disco before The Breakdown EP. It was released on No Idea Records as both a CD and 7" in November 2002. This EP had a very different sound than that of RAR, giving it a more rock and punk feel.

In January 2003, it was announced that the band's next album would drop on Fat Wreck Chords. Then, on November 2nd, they released their second full-length album “As The Eternal Cowboy,” with the help of guy named Toby, who worked at Fat Wreck Chords. Toby contacted Against Me! and had asked for a 7.” However, Against Me! told him that they didn’t want to because they had just put out a 7” (The Disco Before The Breakdown), so they got to do a full length. Against Me! received a lot of criticism for going to a bigger label, but I think that it’s a mind-blowing album and that Against Me!’s message is still there. They’ve been offered million-dollar deals and declined, and for that, I'm willing to support their choice to go on Fat.

In late 2004, a demo was stolen at one of Against Me!’s concerts with Lucero. The demo was leaked all over the Internet, and Against Me! got pretty mad needless to say. But, they’ve gotten over it.

They're latest full length, Searching For A Former Clarity, was released September 6, 2005. Recording with J. Robbins, they started on April 18th, and along with the full length, they will release a handful of eps. A split with Lucero is also being expected soon. The Sink.Florida.Sink./Unsubstantiated Rumors 7” also came out on April 8, 2005.

With the release of the SFAFC and music video for Don't Lose Touch, they have recieved an enormous wave of criticism, positive and negative. Either way, they're a band that has everbody talking.

For information on their live shows, here's a review I did.
[url]http://www.musicianforums.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9563117&postcount=188[/url]

Here's their music video:
[url]http://www.fatwreck.com/vids/Against_Me_Touch.wmv[/url]

Related bands with recordings:

Adversaries – Tom Gabel
Kill Devil Hills – Andrew Seward

Recommended Downloads:

Walking Is Still Honest
Burn
Pints Of Guinness Make You Strong
Slurring The Rhythms
Justin
The Disco Before The Breakdown
Tearing Down The Walls
Haste Killed Creativity
Cliche' Guevara
Searching For A Former Clarity

Discussion, criticism, etc is appreciated.