Moroni's Review of Bad Religion's "True North"

The other day, I was reflecting about  how - as a teenager - I loved horror movies so much.  When I went to the video store, I went right to the horror section, and that's what I would look for - everything from cheesy renditions of H.P. Lovecraft stories to Troma movies to underground slashers.  I don't know when I stopped being so interested in horror.  I can't remember.  There just came a day when I was renting other stuff.  On my DVD shelf, I still have a cherished copy of the original "Evil Dead" that I break out every couple of years, but horror is no longer really my thing.

It is the same way with punk rock, hardcore, or death/ speed metal.  There was a time between the ages of 13 to 16 where that was all that I listened to.  In junior high in the early '80s, there was the crowd that was break dancing or listening to Michael Jackson's "Thriller".  Then there was the other crowd that listened to Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Ozzy, an Mötley Crüe.  In all of Casa Grande Junior High School, there was  only one  other kid who listened to punk, and we developed our friendship based on exchanging music.  (And we still maintain a friendship to this day.  This friend spends his spare time shopping for obscure vinyl in New York City and Philedelphia.)  Dead Kennedys, Black Flag, Minor Threat, Circle Jerks, D.R.I., Minutemen, X, 45 Grave, the Effigies, D.I., Reagan Youth, and, yes, Bad Religion.  

It's amazing to think that this was all I practically listened to.  I don't know when that changed, but I gradually started listening to other things to the point that now I almost never listen to hardcore or metal.  Don't get me wrong.  I still really like this stuff, but it’s like “Evil Dead” – I only break it out every now and then.  Usually when I am angry.

Of all the hardcore bands from the ‘80s, the one that I listen to the most – and relate to the most – is Bad Religion.  Maybe because they endured and are still around.  Maybe because they are like me – middle-aged men with a punk background.  Their sound has steeped and aged and become refined.  Their sound now reminds me a lot of Hüsker Dü back then.

So punk died in the ‘80s, and, a decade later, I had a younger friend in Cornville (still in high school at the time) who invited me to a party at his house.  I was married with a child, but I went anyway.  I remember that I was surprised by their selection of music.  It was Bad Religion’s
“Stranger Than Fiction”.  Yes, I remembered Bad Religion.  I liked their first album.  I even liked their keyboard-heavy, new wavey second album, and I really like “Suffer”.  This was the music of my youth, but it was a tighter, cleaner sound, better engineering.  I was also surprised to see this band reaching out to a younger generation.  I bought the album, and for the last 18 years I have listened to it and listened to it.  I didn’t realize that it has become one of my most-listened-to CDs, but it really has.

So I recently downloaded their new album “True North”.  I have really enjoyed listening to it.  One thing that can be perceived as a strength or a weakness – all of Bad Religion’s songs kind of sound the same.  The song starts out with a guitar screech, and the drums make that punk gallop.  Greg Gaffin packs some wordy, intelligent observations into a two minute song, accented by some yawning harmonies in the background.  Yes, this band has their unique sound, and it hasn’t changed much over the years.  

But that’s one of the things that I like about this album!  I tap my finger at every song from start to finish.

Once again, Gaffin’s lyrics are ironic, socially conscious, and often caustic.  Take, for instance, this jab at Mitt Romney in “Robin Hood in Reverse”:

Here's the church; there's the steeple.
Open up the door; corporations are people.
Wait, what did he say?
What the fuck did he say?

There are some grinding rock songs like “Hello Cruel World”, and there are break-kneck fast songs like “Vanity”.  On an album like this, it is hard to pick favorites, but mine are the opening track, “True North”, “Robin Hood in Reverse”, “Dharma and the Bomb”, and “My Head Is Full of Ghosts”.  A particular favorite is “Fuck You”, a song that Gaffin says was 30 years in the writing.

I hope that Bad Religion is around for another 30 years, but there are rumors that this is their last album.  If so, this was a  good way to go.  You should definitely check it out.