The return of this status-quo-prober side-project brings with it a big ol' conglomeration of political zeal: student protestors are serenaded and encouraged, silver-spoon CEOs are reduced to boorish frat-boys, laptops are searched+seized, a notoriously corrupt sheriff is called out right alongside passive "slacktivists". But Oberst simply flipping his rhapsodic-turbulence switch back to ON mode is the integral rejuvenator: the emphasis on sweaty anthemic fervor and forthright in-the-moment performances calls for stage dives and singalongs, and gives the commentary tangibility -- which, in true Oberstian fashion, sways between biting+righteous and bumper-sticker. The maybe-most imperative observation coming right from the onset: "We're doomed."
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