The follow-up to the popular New Wave, their second major label release, White Crosses expands upon the more straight-forward punk rock of the aforementioned as opposed to the more acoustic/folk punk of early albums. Opening with the title-track, the album starts with a strong song. A strong chorus, catchy guitar riff; it's pretty easy to tell it's Against Me!. Though a strong song, it seems as if Tom stumbles a bit on his songwriting. It's a good lead song, but it seems to be missing something. That's where track two comes in. "I Was A Teenage Anarchist" acknowledges the evolution that the band has made. One of the strongest songs on the entire album, it's structure is similar to "White Crosses", but Tom's songwriting is definitely spot on for this song. Not only that, it's an even catchier sing-along than before, with a great chorus and fantastic verses. "Because of the Shame" really shows the progress the band has made as musicians by featuring a piano throughout the whole track. The downside is that, like the other two before, it's the exact same structure. Catchy intro, build up, strong chorus, repeat; in fact, the formula doesn't change until "We're Breaking Up". A much slower-paced song, it's essentially a ballad. It's placed nicely though. Helping change the pace of the album, it becomes a memorable song. "High Pressure Low" returns back to the catchy rock featured previously. The energy is right up front with this track (which makes sense why it would be released as a single). The next track however, is what makes the album an Against Me! album: the acoustic song. "Ache With Me" is a throwback to the older days of Against Me! and is a powerful song. Lyrically, it's one of the best written by Tom, and the backing acoustics during the chorus are haunting, but fit right in. The song shows that Against Me! still know their roots and can still write intelligent, acoustic tracks like the old days. "Spanish Moss" serves as the follow-up to "Ache With Me", and it's gang "Whoa's" seem like a follow-up that just make sense. It's similar to the other tracks, however, the odd-guitar tone throughout verses helps set it apart. The next track, "Rapid Decompression" is the shortest, fastest song on the album. The intro guitar is very bluesy, and Tom's voice is just as powerful as ever. However, it's not Tom's voice but the guitar that really drives this track home. The album closes with "Bamboo Bones", and it's a good closer. It's a song with a positive message and really shows that while Tom does stumble with some lyrics, he still knows how to write a song with a message.
White Crosses is an odd release. On one hand, the fancy production, the stumbling songwriting, and the annoying "chick-a-chick-ah" aren't really Against Me! at all. But, on the other hand, the album packs so much energy and so much heart into every song, it can't be anyone else but Against Me!. The album itself is solid; as mentioned before, lots of energy. It's unfortunate there's only one acoustic song, the band writes great ones, but, the one that is present is a solid one for sure. And though Tom does stumble, everything needed in an album is here. It may not be perfect or the band's best, but Against Me! sure as hell can play music.
7.5/10
Ten dollars. It's Against Me!, do it. Sure, they've changed their sound a bit, but they still rock. And for cheap.
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