Everyone loves a homecoming. After signing on with Fat Wreck Chords for the release of Dead FM in 2006 and seeing just how poppy and conventional they could make their caustic blend of street punk and hardcore, Iron Front marks a glorious return for Strike Anywhere to a sound, method of operation and songwriting (in order: harder edged on a smaller label with politics and social concerns at the forefront) that might not qualify as a comfort zone for most, but it is certainly the place where the band shines brightest. Iron Front marks a return to the form and strengths of Strike Anywhere true, but it isn't quite so simple as that either – not exactly. Iron Front does indeed return to the political/protest brand of songwriting that has been Strike Anywhere's single greatest weapon and draw for the last eight years, but the sound of the songs is also more popularly accessible which makes the album an exposition of the best of all possible worlds.
The band wastes no time in declaring their year zero here either. In “Invisible Colony,” Strike Anywhere lays out just exactly how it's going to be for the duration of Iron Front: with slabs of thick, searing guitars provided by Matt Smith and Mark Miller clearing the ground and functioning as a base, drummer Eric Kane and bassist Garth Petrie (who clearly learned to play more melodically not too long ago, to great effect here) start building sound structures for singer Thomas Barnett to inhabit and preach from. Barnett's vocals on Iron Front will drop jaws too; having found a happy (in a figurative sense) medium between his early, obviously Ian MacAye-inspired vocal styling and the melodic-to-the-point-of-being-unrecognizable approach he took for Dead FM, Barnett establishes a melodic growl that is equal parts 'pit' and 'pretty' and does it in such a way that will have fans both old and new belting right along with him by the second chorus of any track on the record.
Those melodic hooks are the sugar-sweet coating that Barnett and the band use to make these songs both hummable and memorable because the world has changed and made it more difficult for a politically-reactive band like Strike Anywhere. Without a Republican in the Oval Office to rail against and dissect the policies of, Strike Anywhere has been forced to find new inspiration for Iron Front and that changes the band's focus slightly. While still very politically heated, the band's focus has shifted to include a far wider view than simply examining the state of domestic policy on Iron Front. In this case, subject matter goes to the four winds – “Postcards From Home” looks at the abysmal state of colonialism in the third world (“Child soldiers, endless war and the hope for reconciliation”) while “Summer Punks” at pitiful inmate treatment in prisons over the years, the terrifying merger of Church and State (in “Failed States”) and “First Will And Testament” remembers fallen friends – but retains the same passion that Barnett and the band has poured out in front of listeners since Exit English came out in 2003 which is a testament both to the music and the band's belief in it.
That belief, along with Strike Anywhere's annexation of all-new (to them) and more varied subject matter proves to be revelatory in its own right on Iron Front; after so many years of swimming the same set of channels, Strike Anywhere's presentation of new ideas while simultaneously tempering them with the band's own well-honed sound proves to be as incredible as watching a fish spontaneously grow legs and learn to walk. If you're unfamiliar with Strike Anywhere, start listening here – while the band was doing well before, Iron Front is where Strike Anywhere stands positioned to make a difference – perhaps not in politics, but definitely in the realm of punk rock.
Artist:
www.strikeanywhere.org/
www.myspace.com/strikeanywhere
Download:
Strike Anywhere – "I'm Your Opposite Number" – Iron Front
Album:
Iron Front is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
