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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 (NME)

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 6.8 (out of 10) based on 47 User Votes

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

Einar J. gave it a1:
I have heard about Against Me! for a while now, but never took the time to look at them. Without having seen any previous album by AM!, I can say, i hated this album. Not because i'm some totaly one-eyed genre geek, i listen to everything fairly. This album was just plain mediocre and typical in so many ways. It's painful to see Spin let it beat 'In Rainbows' a masterpiece of our time, and that beat a decent Arcade Fire album. God, i hate this album, sure it's got some grit, but it's so unoriginal and cliche. I was going over 'Raw' by Lindsay Lohan' and, however this is possible, found it to be a more fulfilling effort. Awful album.

Dana C. gave it a0:
The reason I found this album so disappointing is that it is hard to take them seriously after they sold out so hard. The lyrics are still pretty well written and meaningful, but I can't see them as anything but empty now that Against Me! has turned into a slick corporate "punk" band. Tell me, how could you compromise yourself like this?

Rob C. gave it an8:
I have been listening to this band and going to shows since 2001, I have seen them in the basement and I have seen them the the larger venues they are playing. There was never another London calling, there was never another nevermind, there was never another white album, reinventing axle rose was there and then, great album but you cannot hold the band accountable to what happens to everyone of us, change, its the only constant. This band made a great album, Thrash Unreal is Pints of Guinness part duex, The Ocean is like nothing they have ever done, and thats what I want from one of my favorite bands to go out and just do what they do best, great music, great times, and great shows. I can't wait till I have a son one day and when he is old enough I am going to hand him a few albums, and tell him "Son this is Against Me!, this is music, here is a beer now go enjoy .

adam l gave it a3:
First of all, this is not punk, so stop calling it that. Secondly, this is their worst album ever (and I did like Searching), made exponentially worse by the hackjob Butch Vig did on the band. They're all but screwed unless they go back to No Idea, or PlanitX. Tom's lost his lyrical punch, which is what kills the band. These songs don't have bite; they're no different than anything else on the radio now, save White People For Peace which is a fine song. People will argue that Tom destroys the music industry with his lyrics, but I'll tell them to listen to What We Worked For and then tell me if Up The Cuts really has that lyrical poignancy they thought. If they wanted to mellow out, that's great, they should go all acoustic and be a folk band or something and do what made them great in the first place. But this half electric chimey guitar crap has to stop. They're the best folk punk band up to this point in time, but as an alternative rock band they're sub-par at best. The U2 comparison wasn't that far off. They're at their best when they're uncontrolled, pissed off, and either folk or punk or both. This is just bad pop music.

Heather C. gave it a7:
Sell outs? nay. i have to admit, there are songs that don't really make me an anarchist ("White People For Peace") and the lyrics aren't all that... well... well thought out. But admist all the other stuff out there, I would buy this in a heartbeat. It's been a long time since someone screamed his heart out and meant it.

Jonathan E. gave it an8:
It's a pretty good record, but I'd like to point out that this band sounds a helluva lot like Manic Street Preachers. In all honesty, the Manics are better too. Check out their last record "Send Away the Tigers" which has a similar feel to this one, but with even better songs.

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.

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