Against All Authority "The Restoration of Chaos & Order" (Hopeless)
By Pete Mittler
Tuesday. May 30, 3:37 PM
Political hardcore for angsty teens.

I had heard the name Against All Authority numerous times, but all I knew about them was that they are a political hardcore/punk band and that they have been around for awhile (since 1992, to be exact). People I know always said that I would like them. With The Restoration of Chaos & Order, the first thing I noticed was that the title makes no sense at all. Then I found out why: it's a quote from everyone's favorite president, George W. Bush, when he screwed up a speech in 2003 about Iraq. Ah, now it makes sense. But unfortunately, that wasn't where I stopped being confused. From a strictly musical point of view, this album is tight, energetic, borderline streetpunk/hardcore with a little ska thrown in here and there. The recording, production, and the overall sound of everything is really good. The songs are played well, and I really like the singer's gruff vocals as well as the guitar, bass, and drum attacks. The main problem, though, is that I can't get past the ridiculous lyrics. Now, I know that I'm no great lyricist myself, but for me at 34 years-old it's really hard to listen to a song with lyrics like "I just wanna start a circle pit!" I wondered if they were joking, but I don't think they are. There are also a lot of other lyrics that I actually kind of cringed when I heard them. I cannot for the life of me get past them. They actually ruin this album for me. But I think if you like really political street punk / modern oi / traditional hardcore and you don't care much about the words, then this might be for you. Let's rephrase that: if you're 16-18 and being "PUNK" is the most important thing in your life, you'll probably love this. If you're over, say, 24, you probably won't be able to listen to this and not laugh a little at the lyrics. It's a shame, because the music and melodies are really good.
www.punkbands.com/aaaonline
www.hopelessrecords.com

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Pete Mittler

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