bad religion have been around a long time. they have a pretty signature sound, so reviewing one disc is sort of like reviewing them all. well, reviewing one so-cal punk disc is sort of like reviewing them all. lol. this isn't a genre that prioritizes musical novelty. i normally am, but i make an exception. we all have the right to make exceptions to our rules.
that being said, they were always on the contemplative side of so-cal punk. that is to say that this isn't nofx or rancid. no funny hair. the vocals tend to be taken down a notch, focused more on harmony. beatles comparisons actually aren't that far off. and while the singer from the offspring basically held greg graffin up as his idol through most of the 80s, the more immediate comparison is actually early green day. bad religion is the band that invented the "pop punk" template, and it's still, even after all these years, a little hard to suppress comparisons.
they sound almost the same as they did in 1990. there's a vaguely bluesier feel that's set in with age. it's subtle. that's not necessarily a bad thing, if you like the sound. of course, the lyrics have changed. that's the crux, and what is going to determine if you really get into this or not.
i tend to avoid dissecting political lyrics in this space. by posting it, i'm tacitly endorsing it, and not passively. but you get to work that out yourself.
so, it's the same as it's always been: you like bad religion if you relate to graffin. well, and you like catchy so-cal punk...
