Rise Against Appeals to Reason with New Album
With the US presidential election coming up fast, it’s no surprise that today’s current political issues are rising to the forefront of everyone’s minds. When you turn on the television, it’s only to find that you’re instantly being bombarded with campaign efforts in the form of biased commercials and debate recaps, which also manage to take the front headlines in newspapers and have their own mandatory section of coverage in the evening news. John McCain, Sarah Palin, Barack Obama, Joe Biden—all household names by now, and those we regard with a nervous fascination as we bite our nails and prepare ourselves for the coming election.
Even in music, you can’t evade the events that are about to shape this country. Rise Against, the infamous punk band brought to us from Chicago, Illinois, seems to have made it their personal mission to make sure of just that. In their new album, Appeal to Reason, which is set to be released on October 7th, Rise Against is exploring new beats with the same passion that made their first four albums rocket them forward into mainstream success—with a few left-wing political viewpoints influencing them along the way.
Always willing to speak their minds through their music, these Chicago boys have never remained quiet about the issues that they think matter. Whether the concern is environmental degradation throughout the world, the war in Iraq, or the appalling conditions and regulations kept in place in overseas sweat shops, Rise Against always has something to say about it.
Music videos for singles such as Ready to Fall, which depicts the band playing their instruments amongst the trees felled by lumberjacks, between scenes of meat processing plants and animals already dying from abuse, strikes home for many of their loyal fans. There are two versions of this video, one of which is only available on certain websites due to its graphic nature showing animal cruelty. The video for Give It All, between cutting from scenes of the band playing in the midst of a small mosh pit being held on a Chicago ‘L’ train, portrays regular office workers from all over the city running amok at night, defiling billboards and pro-Bush bumper stickers before going back to their daily lives when the sun comes up.
Even more, Prayer of the Refugee takes place mostly within the darkened aisles of a Wal-Mart after-hours, the band performing to their best as the various items around them are given their back stories—the shoes slaved over by small children overseas, the fruit picked, stored, and stacked by young girls in other countries. Tim McIlrath, frontman for the American punk band, ends the Ready to Fall video with a message:
"Every action has a reaction. We have one planet, one chance."
This last Thursday, October 2nd, kicked off their Appeal to Reason Tour at the Time Warner Cable Amphitheater in Cleveland, Ohio. With them were several like-minded bands that they have collaborated with before; The Gaslight Anthem, Thrice, and perhaps most significantly Alkaline Trio, another punk-rock band from Chicago, and contributors to the Rock Against Bush effort begun in 2004 and initiated by bass player Mike Burkett (‘Fat Mike’), of which Rise Against were also ardent participants. Rock Against Bush called for an end to George W. Bush’s presidency.
The goal was not reached; as Bush went on to win the 2004 election despite their efforts, which included a series of live concerts and two compilation albums. The movement did, however, inspire Australian punk bands to begin Rock Against Howard that same year.
Rise Against was on tour in 2004 when the results of the presidential election came in. Their disappointment when they realized they were facing four more years with the president they never supported more than evident, they and Bad Religion, their supporting band, tried to keep their heads up nevertheless.
“It was a sad night of the tour,” McIlrath recalled when interviewed for the Cleveland Scene newspaper. “Nobody was partying too hard. We picked up the pieces and went forward. It made me realize this message of punk is timeless and will always be there, no matter who is in office.”
Still, Tim won’t stop trying to get the band’s fans out there in an effort to make a difference, even if what we’re going through now has created a strange stage for today’s kids who want to vote. “I forget that this is a lot of kids’ first introduction to politics and the government,” McIlrath went on to say, “and look at what a crazy administration they’ve been born into. All previous administrations have seemed so docile compared to what’s going on now. It’s created a generation of kids who are really interested in knowing what’s going on.”
Anyone who has been to a Rise Against show knows how seriously this band takes the values in which they hold dear. This Thursday, I took barrier at the very forefront of the frenzied mosh pit that was struck up when the band finally took their places onstage, and it was there that I witnessed singer Tim McIlrath take a moment away from the music to stand before us and spread the band’s message of the night. He fervently urged everyone that was there and of age to get to the polls this November, in the hopes that together our collective votes could make a difference in this election and for our nation.
Whether you’re a fan of Rise Against or not, if you’re an American citizen who is of the legal age to vote, listen to their words and get to the polls on November 4th. People think that one vote won’t make a difference, but it’s just the opposite. Whether you support Obama or McCain, or another party member, your vote matters. Don’t waste it.
