Since Reinventing Axl Rose Against Me! has delivered increasingly awesome albums amid pointless sellout accusations while hopping to increasingly larger labels, eventually settling with Sire Records for 2007's New Wave and 2010's White Crosses - both albums among the best of their respective year. But despite the commercial and critical success of the former, the latter fell off the map following the initial splash of lead single "I Was a Teenage Anarchist." Now, Against Me! has jumped off the major label ship. From frontman Tom Gabel's blog:
...after almost a five year relationship we are leaving Sire/Warner. We have nothing but gratitude towards all the people we worked with at the label and feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to make the records we made while with the label.
Personally, I can't help but compare Against Me! to one of Tom's idols, The Replacements. Tom cited the 'Mats (as well as The Cure, The Smiths, and Ramones) as part of the great Sire Records roster that made signing with that particular label an easy decision. The "New Wave" video payed homage to the iconic "Bastards of Young" clip (which Against Me! has also covered). Finally, there's the enigmatic Twitter feed @discographies' summary of The Replacements:
The Replacements: 1-4 "A ragtag band of lovable drunken misfits..."; 5-6 "...takes on a big corporate record label..."; 7-8 "...and loses."
Granted, Against Me! hasn't lost anything ("Aside from credibility!" some punk reading this will inevitably snark). Rumors of a breakup or hiatus have calmed thanks to two tours announced for early 2011, and I'm no longer afraid their 97x Next Big Thing 10 performance this Sunday at the 1-800-Ask-Gary Amphitheater will be my last chance to see them.
The first new Misfits album in a decade, the return of System of a Down, new albums by The Strokes and Cake, and more quick music news for you after the jump!
