Tom Gabel of Against Me! brings his band and solo act to town
For Tom Gabel, the singer and guitarist of the Gainesville, Fla., punk band Against Me!, voicing dissent is less a means of changing the political tide than trying to find his own place in it. His band's 2007 LP, "New Wave," was a pop-savvy punch in the eye to not only America's foreign misadventures but also to the efficacy of protest music and the cynicism of both lovers and the music business.
However, Gabel's new solo record, "Heart Burns," due out Tuesday, saves its sharpest knives for Sen. John McCain on the song "Cowards Sing at Night." The lyrics, many of which were culled from excerpts of the presidential candidate's memoir, "Faith of My Fathers," seem withering in Gabel's hands: "Come back home, Johnny, come back home from Vietnam. Your war is over."
"I was hesitant to write that song at first," he said. "I didn't want to make a judgment call about somebody I didn't know. But he's someone who can make a direct effect in my life, and I disagree with so many of his policies and stances that I can't think his election would be a good thing."
It's not the first time Gabel has taken on a Republican figure by name; see 2005's "From Her Lips to God's Ears (The Energizer)," which wrangles an unexpectedly anthemic chorus from the name "Condoleezza."
"When I'm writing, I'm expressing an opinion and representing what's already happening, and that's what the function of a movement is," he said. "I have no interest in being Rage Against the Machine."
This week, Gabel's poised to deliver his message with two shows in L.A. On Tuesday, Against Me! will perform at the Wiltern, and on Saturday, Gabel will headline the Revival Tour's stop at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood. The folk-leaning outing gathers a collection of punk singer-songwriters, somewhat like a town-hall meeting for the safety-pin set.
Over the last two years, Against Me! has grown further away from the basement-show circuit that supported its first four albums and tours. Gabel and bandmates James Bowman, Andrew Seward and Warren Oakes took flak from some of their longtime DIY-leaning fans for signing to Sire Records, tightening up their production with producer Butch Vig (Nirvana's "Nevermind") and ratcheting down Gabel's throat-shredding howl a bit.
The band has dipped toes into the upper reaches of the Billboard Modern Rock chart: The 2007 single "Thrash Un- real," about an aging but defiant scene hanger-on, peaked at No. 11. For a group that lamented "all the tastemakers drinking from the same glass" on its major-label debut, they seem to have made peace with life on a corporate-owned label.
