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Lost At Sea

I can't remember the last time a popular punk album sounded this simple, lean and ready to conquer anything in its path.

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MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)

Polysyllabic and self-aware, this is the best political punk in years.

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Spin

Vig both sweetens and strengthens Against Me!'s attack without sacrificing the band's innate Raggedy Andy appeal.

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The Onion (A.V. Club)

New Wave's triumph is its ability to rise above Butch Vig's airtight alt-rock production with gruffly sung, hook-heavy songs that show a dark maturity (such as the impressionist, dreamlike "The Ocean") while perpetuating AM's shout-along populism.

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The New York Times

It’s still a short, sharp shock: 10 songs, with no shortage of vehemence.

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All Music Guide

New Wave is crisp, direct, and sharp. It's clean, but not glossy; it's defiant; it's brash; it's heartfelt.

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Blender

Superproducer Butch Vig is around to help transform Gabel’s strident leftism and occasionally clumsy choruses (e.g., "Protest Songs! In response to military aggression!") into swing-state-ready stadium rock.

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New Musical Express

Their best album to date.

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NOW Magazine

While New Wave will probably compel you to pay attention to singer Tom Gabel's rasping rants, it's still a record that's pretty damn fun to dance around to.

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Rolling Stone

With help from name producer Butch Vig, Tom Gabel's emo-hardcore band makes them rock.

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Sputnikmusic

It's easy to enjoy on a superficial level, because the music is well written and enjoyable, and lyrically it's more than I could have expected.

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Q Magazine

The likes of 'Americans Abroad' and 'White People For Peace' pick up where Green Day's "American Idiot" left off, channelling righteous fury into a racket that's as vigorous as it's earnest. [Sep 2007, p.88]

Pitchfork

These are longstanding punk tropes boiled down and Vig-ed up, removed of their typical dirt sheen and bolstered by a couple extra guitar tracks.

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PopMatters

While most Against Me! fans are likely to think New Wave is inferior to their previous work--and they’re probably right--this is still an album that gets their foot in the door to the big show, and if they use it as something to build on, they can do some damage in the future.

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Stylus Magazine

I’d argue, though, that being an expert on the group’s verbose and ragged past wouldn’t help all that much. This is a different sounding band with pretty much the exact same lyrical concerns.

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Hot Press

It will probably go down as their 'sell-out' record, in that it's their first for a major label.

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What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 6.7 (out of 10) based on 46 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Tanner L gave it a4:
I have tried and tried and tried but "New Wave" just doesn't grab me like any previous Against Me did. The First couple of songs started with promise but led into "Thrash Unreal" which really threw me off with the U2 style guitar effects. Followed eventually with an un-even duet with one of the girls from tegan and Sara and later a dance punk throw-away song that would make even Franz Ferdenand blush. The rest of the album eventually fumbles into a smattering of okay but ultimately forgettable songs that never really get a foot-hold in the mind.

Stuart W. gave it an8:
This album is excellent. Tom is sounding better than ever and the musicianship is excellent. Slightly let down by a god awful opening track though.

Jared F. gave it a4:
There are hits, there are misses, and then there's Against Me!'s New Wave. Teetering on verge of patchiness and cheese, this album hurts my heart to listen to. Self-appointed master of the obvious Tom Gabel takes us on a lyrical journey through the annals of a Tony Robbins self-help video collection. With quips like, "Stop! Take some time to think. Figure out what's important to you..." and "You have to fight to stay in control of the situation." who needs enemies? If simply reading these sophomoric lyrics doesn't make you cringe, you have no soul. Granted, Gabel's signature poetic angst does shine through intermittently, I still have to say it gets lost in the overwhelming mediocrity of this album. I am a big fan of Against Me! (Is there a Band you traveled 1200 miles to see?) but I believe they CAN, HAVE, and hopefully (with crossed fingers and about ten nickels in a wishing well) WILL do better.

Sam K. gave it a10:
Possibly my new favorite band. Melodically lyrically vocally artistically incredible. Tom Gabel is an incredible vocalist backed by a solid wall of guitars and lots of deep powerful percussion. Somehow all of this ends up being incredibly melodic. Seriously awesome.

[Anonymous] gave it a10:
this album is fantastic, it is a different style of their 'reinventing axl rose' album, but it hits hard, has the same sing-along feel and deep and thought lyrics and musical composition.

Jason M. gave it a6:
It just doesn't have that feeling that their earlier albums did. As the Eternal Cowboy and Reinventing Axl Rose will always be timeless additions to the folk-punk community, whereas this is no different than most punk bands out there. I'm NOT accusing them of selling out, but the music just doesn't feel the same anymore. Their best work in my opinion: The Acoustic EP.

Eli T. gave it a5:
It might not be a sellout album, but it still saddens me to no end that we'll never get another "Axl". This is by no means an awful album, it's just doesn't seem the same as the Against Me! I knew and loved. 2 songs into the album I was hoping for merely a weak start, then the "ba, ba, bas" a la The Fratelli's "Flathead" kicked in, and I knew I was listening to the end of the old Against Me! and personally, I'd look up Ben Lee's acoustic cover album of "New Wave", it's truer to the spirit of against me than the actual band is these days.

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