This is how the article begins, with a two-year-old sound: a wall of guitars, the thump and thud of drums and the shouted vocals of Against Me! lead singer Tom Gabel.

“We can be the bands we want to hear, we can define our own generation,” he sings on “New Wave,” the title track from the band’s 2007 album.  In 15 short rapid-fire bursts of syllables, Gabel provides a rallying cry to the audience and a mission statement for his band. It’s a new credo that sets aside the band’s punk rock past and attempts to make peace with its major label present.

Today, Gabel and Against Me! are still touring behind New Wave; but even though the album is nearly two years old, the energy and ideas of possibility that came with the album are still just as fresh.“

I feel like I always set out to write a better song, write a better record or to do something that we haven’t done before. It’s constant goal of mine, and I always want to feel like I’m pushing myself and the band to grow,” says Gabel.

Part of that growth began with the decision to set aside Against Me!’s unplugged sound. Although the band was originally conceived as an acoustic project by a then 16-year-old Gabel, the acoustic instruments eventually became less of a trademark and more of a means for some listeners to pigeonhole the band, something that Gabel hoped to shake with New Wave.

“We were kind of getting to be known as that acoustic punk band, and I don’t necessarily just want to be that. With that being said, though, I feel like naturally over the few years we’ve had playing together as a band, we’ve come up with elements that I feel like are our sound… At the same time, I think we can develop that in a way that will always be fresh for us,” says Gabel.

The willingness to evolve beyond their roots may excite Gabel, but within the band’s fan base the idea of progressing beyond their punk rock roots could be seen as compromising their music, or even worse, that ill advised and poorly defined notion of "selling out," which to even the most diehard crusty punk is like garlic in Dracula’s spaghetti sauce. But Gabel looks forward to putting the punk label beside the band’s acoustic based repertoire. Instead of merely rocking out for the band-logos-hand-written-on-leather-jackets set, Gabel sees Against Me! moving towards something more universal than paint by numbers punk.

“Punk is just a small part of what we do. It’s where we come from, but I’d rather just be under the umbrella of rock and roll music or just music in general.”

If the purists are mad about that statement, then they shouldn’t read much further.

To rank strangers, the tattooed and guitar slinging Gabel and company may seem like cookie cutter punk, but upon multiple listens of New Wave, the band’s sound draws less from the Spirit of ’77 and more from the heroes of ’65.  This isn’t just rude boy punk rock; the band’s sonic assault is more inspired by rock and roll’s roots. Against Me! isn't quite aping the Southern fried, doobie fueled rock of fellow Florida native Tom Petty, but the band’s three chord back-to-basics music isn’t that far removed from the head Heartbreaker. To Gabel, the newfound distance from his anarcho-punk past is a welcome change.  

“I really don’t care about being a punk band. I really don’t care if people think we’re a punk band. At this point, I’d love to distance myself even further from that title, because I think that title leads people to being really judgmental,” says Gabel.

But just because Against Me! is seeking distance from the punk label, it doesn’t mean that the live show is holding back anything. Audiences can expect a gut punch of guitars and drums that, coupled with Gabel’s vocals, begs for fist pumping, life affirming posturing about how this music can save lives and epic, audience encapsulating sing-alongs.   

“We want people to sing along. We want our lyrics to be inclusive. We use ‘we’ instead of ‘I’, but for our shows it’s not us that matters, it’s the audience. It’s a two-way thing, they are there for us just as much as we are there for them,” says Gabel. 

The logistics of that statement aside, Gabel is ready to confront his band’s future and put its past behind them. He’s waiting to win over his throng of listeners - one mosh pit at a time.

“It’s fun," he says of the live shows. "I feel like we approach music as a contact sport. It’s awesome and such a release."

Jason Bugg

WHO	Against Me!, Off With Their Heads, Music Hates You
WHERE	Tasty World
WHEN	Wednesday, Apr. 29 8 p.m.
HOW MUCH	$12 (www.athensmusic.net)