— by Alyssa Rashbaum
Chicago punk band Rise Against are just a little miffed about the current state of the country.
"If we're the flagship of peace and prosperity," lead singer Tim McIlrath belts on album opener "State of the Union," "we're taking on water and about to f---in' sink."
Rise Against, whose members freely describe the band's sound, attitude and ethos as punk rock, kick off Siren Song of the Counter Culture, their third album (and major-label debut), with fervent political and social commentary. The same sentiments engulfed their previous release, last year's Revolutions Per Minute.
"Punk rock has always been a reflection of what's going on in the world," McIlrath said. "You can't help but be influenced by what's going on in the world, especially in the heat of the political climate we live in today."
But instead of writing an entire album's worth of angry anthems, Rise Against put their energy into a message of empowerment and a call to action, as in the debut single, "Give It All."
McIlrath sings: "For far too long these voices/ Muffled by distances/ It's time to come to our senses/ And from the dark we give it all/ This is the reason why I sing."
"It's about putting 110 percent of yourself into what you do," McIlrath said. "It's about never sacrificing, never compromising, really believing in what you're doing and believing that it's right no matter what."
Unlike many new punk acts, their message isn't lost in slick overproduction. Though the band made the move from indie Fat Wreck Chords to major DreamWorks/Geffen, McIlrath's throaty, grizzled screams help Rise Against's music maintain a raw and ragged flavor.
That unrefined, organic attitude shines through in the band's video for "Give It All," which was filmed in a moving car on Chicago's elevated train line. "There isn't enough Chicago in the music world in general, and I really wanted to represent where we're from," McIlrath explained.
Rise Against — filled out by bassist Joe Principe, drummer Brandon Barnes and guitarist Chris Chasse — gave a nod to the Windy City's youth, featuring them in the video rather than employing extras. "Everybody in the video were simply kids from the show the night before who came out," McIlrath said. "That made it awesome because we really had fans in that subway car, you know. They were singing along and going off and hitting us, and we were hitting them."
The band has risen to fame on the strength of a loyal following that has been growing steadily since their first album, 2001's The Unraveling. Fans bought some 50,000 copies of Rise Against's second album at the Warped Tour last summer, but one fan in particular firmly implanted herself in the band's memory after watching from the front row at a series of consecutive California shows.
"She came to every show and never said hello," McIlrath recalled. "Then the last day, she gave us an envelope before she was leaving and said, 'Open it when you leave.' In the envelope was a hundred dollar bill and it said, 'I love you guys so much, here is a hundred bucks, please do whatever you like with it.' "
Though they have made the move to a larger label, the band does not expect to become overnight pop sensations or to appeal to everyone. "The reality is Rise Against are not going to be everyone's favorite band, you know?" McIlrath said. "We are not out here to become everyone's favorite band."
Their inclusion of several mellow tracks, mounting choruses and deftly placed pop hooks, however, does help steer Siren Song toward a wider audience. Still, fans shouldn't expect any major changes from Rise Against anytime soon.
"You know, we're not professional songwriters," McIlrath said. "We couldn't turn around next year and write an R&B record, you know what I mean? We're a punk-rock band. That's what we know, and that's what we're gonna do."
So what can fans expect from the band's second single? Vicious political rhetoric? More lyrical motivation?
"I think," McIlrath mused, "we're gonna do an Ashlee Simpson cover."
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