I’m not a huge fan of singles from most bands–especially bands I really like, oddly enough. I’m always waiting for the rest of the album, because the real creativity, to me, rears its head in those songs that aren’t being played on repeat by various music channels. So against my better judgement—The new single holds its own.
Frontman Tim McIlrath has always had a gritty rawness in his vocals that carry the songs to near perfect emotion. “Help Is On The Way” is no exception—the heat of the single comes not from any ingenious guitar hook, but from Tim’s sensitive delivery.
Surprisingly, I had to listen to “Help Is On The Way” roughly four times before I got caught up enough to started bopping along with the use of my gammy leg. Usually a Rise Against song has enough hook and energy to grab me on the first spin, but not so here. The reason is pretty easy to spot: the song is massively over-produced compared to their records of past. There is slight counterpoint in the song however, but that amounts to nothing really as the song still has enough energy and excitement even with a producer’s heavy hand to add some great modern punk rock to Rise Against’s discography.
The lyrics obviously mean something to the band or its frontman, unsurprising as a number of their songs are either about socioeconomic decline or environmental disasters. The band are heavily involved with PETA and so have a plethora of material for songs pointing out mankind’s faults.
Rise Against have undoubtedly been at their best when playing and singing about the gut-wrenching realisation of failed love (see: “The Good Left Undone”) or the fear of failed dreams and failed lives (“Rumours of my Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated”). Check out their albums ‘Siren Song of the Counter Culture‘ and the outstanding ‘Suffer and Witness’. None of the songs there will disappoint.
And if you want the stripped-down, explosive Rise Against of years past, you only have to see them live and away from the studio. I just hope that the hidden gems are yet to come on the rest of Endgame.
Now go skate.
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Post by Henry ’29yrs and 364days’
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