:: Against Me! - Thrash Unreal

Against Me!

On the surface, ‘Thrash Unreal’ seems an unchallenging proposition, all gravely-throated bluster and the sort of punk-pop riffing that we’ve all heard a zillion times courtesy of post-pub slumps in front of Rage. However, Against Me! have in Tom Gabel a thoughtful songwriter albeit one hell-bent on cramming Springsteen-esque anthems into three-chord power pop. Genre constraints aside, this track marries a chirpy shout-a-long melody to a lyric of refreshing bleakness, “No mother ever dreams that her daughter is gonna grow up to be a junkie/ No mother ever dreams that her daughter is gonna grow up to sleep alone”. Makes a change from the usual teary emo nonsense.