Against Me! – Emo's, Austin, Texas 1/26/11

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Image taken from a photograph by Jessica Alexander

It’s ironic that ‘Stop,’ a song about the anxieties of jumping ship to a major label, became both Against Me!’s biggest hit and the centralized icon of the scorn they’ve faced in recent years. Not only were they writing about making money, they were actually succeeding at it, puncturing a yuppie-youth, MTV watching demographic that absolutely demolished the idyllic punk-populace they once spoke for. It was one of the most self-aware instances of an alleged sell-out – songs that came after their Sire signing reflected a fractured nostalgia for a scene that never amounted to anything concrete.

But Against Me! are still playing all their songs; the band that took the outdoor stage of Emo’s (long a staple of the middleweight circuit) more or less resembled the same band that released Reinventing Axl Rose nine years ago.

They’re older, more haggard; their teenaged tattoos hung looser on middle-aged skin, but their vigor remained vigilant. Their set careened like a furious protest or a detonation of angst, the dated politic-rock of something ‘From Her Lips to God’s Ears’ sounded strangely relevant – with the lyrical tumble of “After all this death and destruction / do you really think your actions advocate freedom?” quipped deeper than the word-soup it is. Protest and punk go way back, but seeing the geniality of the peace-bearing antiquity of a band as beautifully hopeful as Against Me! is somehow perturbing. They do purity better than most decades-old bands, especially in front of worshipers.

The centerpiece of the show was their latest hit ‘I Was a Teenaged Anarchist.’ It’s a chunk of bitter reminiscence; touching on blithering ideals and misplaced faith – it reaches a crescendo with a confident “the revolution was a lie.” That belief got them to Emo’s, it got them a full time job, and it got them shunned by a people who put identity above music. But I think Against Me! still believe in the youthful passions they’re claiming to be above. That’s why they play their old songs, that’s why they don’t cover up their ink-blotched arms, and that’s why they still make music. Once a night they get to incite a miniature revolution – and grown men and women remember the scene that lit their fires so many years ago.

Do Against Me! believe anymore? Probably not, but they certainly like remembering that belief.