AFI – Crash Love

September 29, 2009

By nickwan

AFI's Crash Love

So, there is a big divide between those people who absolutely loved AFI’s hardcore punk stuff, pre-Sing the Sorrow. Then, there are some people who are direly in love with everything Sing the Sorrow and after. There are few who love all of it equally, which is fine. Most like either or. And Crash Love doesn’t change a thing.

To the side of the hardcore punk AFI lovers: shut the fuck up. It’s like those people who say “oh, older Metallica was SOOO much better”. Guess what, it still is good. Just go download the old albums, load it on your iPod, and go on a bike ride. This is no different for AFI. Just because you like hardcore punk so much that anything not hardcore punk is bad, great. Keep your vinyl to yourself. But just because some band tries something new out doesn’t mean all those albums suddenly suck. AFI doesn’t suck. Nor did they “sell out”. They are musicians. Jesse Lacey said something along the lines of, “between our first album and second album, we learned how to play our instruments”. Lacey was probably pretty serious about that statement, but it’s a good quote to think about. There is more than just hardcore punk, and there is definitely more than one thing one band can just play. AFI shows us that with this new album. There is not much there for the hardcore sound, to some dismay, but it is still fun. It’s maybe turning more for the Nightmare of You crowd, that somewhat indie poppy jumpy punky sound. Can’t see many of those ’88 punks two stepping to this shit. But in some weird way, like when you go to a New Found Glory show, I’m sure those guys will find a way to crowd kill the teenie-boppers until their soccer moms take them home in minivans.

To the side of the post-hardcore AFI lovers: what is it about this band? Sing the Sorrow did set some good standards for what AFI was heading towards, and I do think they completed most of that idea with DecemberUnderground, but this new album is no where near a top 10 list for me. Sadly, these Northern California kids kind of feel like they are heading down the “American Idiot” road. I’m not saying they’ll win album of the year for this thing, but I get the feeling that they are stretching their musical arms and realizing they aren’t Mr. Fantastic. This album is decent, but that’s about it. There wasn’t one song that struck me as amazing. “Too Shy to Scream” almost had the best intro of the album until the song turned it into another forgettable track in a year of amazing tracks. Although, I must admit, I’m a sucker for swing dance drum beats.

Some questions:

Where’s the passion in this album? Davey? Hunter? Or is this too artsy for my own good?

Where’s the next step after this? Back to punk? Forward with the indie experiment? I almost feel as if this album is four years late. Each song makes me think “Nightmare of You/Black Kids did this already…”

Will you be the next Green Day? Well?

A little more about the album: loaded with singalongs, shout outs, and some nice pitting parts sprinkled throughout the album. Medicate is the most lame-punk sounding thing off this entire album, and it might also be the weakest song on the entire album. I’m sure it’ll find it’s way on Live 105.3 soon enough. Davey does a lot with his voice on this album, but we know Davey can sing very well, so don’t be surprised when he takes on the roll to track three of his own voices in three different octaves. Overall, the album is much more fun than DecemberUnderground, but it’s also a lot less inspired/inspiring. I don’t want to listen to this album more than once a week from the point of this review. As I write this, with my third listen through coming to an end, I’m not turning this album on again for a good while.

Some glimmers of light on this album: Sacrilege is a nice song but it’s nothing different. At this point in time, I think I’m looking for that “Fugazi” type band that changes the face of the scene or starts a completely new one. There was that indie folk renaissance that happened in the early 2000′s. Brand New almost convinced me that they would be that “Fugazi” band that would rape this scene into something different… but then I listened to the album past track one and realized it was way too weird to be a game changer. I was hoping AFI might introduce something different, but they didn’t. Looks like it’s up to you, Tegan and Sara!

After listening to the album a few times, I’ve decided I’m not a big fan of it… but I’m not saying it’s a bad album. It just wasn’t a great album. It was a great waste of time though. Really. It was. Listen for yourself and after the album is done you’ll say to yourself “shit… well, at least I heard it.” You won’t be that disappointed.