Against Me!: New Wave

I have no idea what to make of this album. It's rare. Usually I can just listen and immediately categorize.

"Emo trash!"

"Hipster garbage!"

"Slayer wannabes!"

"Complete and utter crap!"

"Aggravating noise that makes me ashamed to be an American."

For the record, my categories are quite critical.

But the newest disc from Against Me! is confounding. I mean, I guess it's punk. The term itself is so general and vague to begin with, so what the hell. They were on Fat Wreck Chords, the vocals are guttural, and the riffs are driving, loud, and in your face, but all with foot-tappy and head-bobby kind of groove.

Then again, they're from Florida. And not backwater Florida; that might be alright. These guys are from Naples, perhaps the single most wussy place in the entire world besides The Album is called, 'New Wave,' this disc was produced by Butch Vig. All very un-punk.

But yeah. . .it's fun to listen to. But I've been through the whole thing twice, and still don't know where I stand. I think I like it, but if i do, I'm not sure why. . .As I said, I don't know what to make of this album.

Feldheimers? A little help here?