American Steel: Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts

2009

Fat Wreck Chords

Format I Own it On: Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Emergency House Party  2. Tear the Place Apart  3.Safe and Sound  4. Your Ass Ain't Laughing Now  5. The Blood Gets Everywhere  6. From Here To Hell  7. Dear Friends and Gentle Hearts  8. Lights Out  9. Bergamot  10. Where You Want To Be  11. Finally Alone  12. Meals & Entertainment


This is American Steel's fifth album and one of their best! This is their slickest album to date. So much so, that it's almost hard to even call it punk rock anymore.  It's essentially just unerringly tuneful hard rock.

I can't fathom why this isn't on the radio! I mean, why do we have to be subjected to bullshit like One Direction?!  I think if people gave music like this a chance they could get into it. Or do I just have too much faith in humanity?



Yea...too much faith...

Either way, songs like "Tear the Place Apart", "Your Ass Ain't Laughing Now" and "Where You Want to Be" are guarantee party starters! And don't even get me started on "Emergency House Party." It kills me to live in a world where Train has a long, bland, hit-filled career and American Steel crafts an album filled with nothing but thrilling immaculate hooks and languishes in obscurity. Unfair!



Time to turn off the radio, and look a little deeper...There's a lot of great music out there if you're willing to dig a little...Death to the mind-numbing brain-dead rhythmic chants of modern dance-pop!  Die, Active Rock and its mid-tempo morass of mushy moping...Let's aim for something more!

Yes, I am an old man who watches Matlock...why do you ask?



Well, it's 8:30 pm. Time for bed...but before I go, let's check out...American Steel's "Tear This Place Apart..."

American Steel: Destroy Their Future

American Steel: Destroy Their Future

2007

Fat Wreck Chords

Format I Own it On: Compact Disc

Track Listing:  1. Sons of Avarice  2. Dead and Gone  3. Meanstreak  4. Love and Logic  5. Smile On Me  6. Razorblades  7. Old Croy Road  8. To the Sea  9. Or Don't You Remember  10. Speak, Oh my Heart  11. Hurtlin'  12. More Like a Dream

This is American Steel's fourth album and their first on Fat Mike's popular punk label Fat Wreck Chords. Prior to this record. the band  had briefly taken a detour into synth-based dance-rock and renamed themselves Communique. I've only heard one Communique song, which I thought was alright, but it's definitely good to hear them back doing what they do best! "Destroy Their Future"  polishes their approach  (the softening of their sound actually started on the previous album "Jagged Thoughts, which I don't currently own, but have heard many times.) When I say this is polished, you don't have to worry about it sounding like Maroon 5 or something, I mean that it's now more Clash than Crimpshrine...

In fact, the album opener "Sons of Avarice" owes a huge debt to the Clash's "Know Your Rights." It's a highly charged political punker that sounds like a million fire alarms going off at once. Exciting! The band does a good job keeping the political/personal ratio just right. They attack religious hypocrisy and war mongering politicians on "Sons of Avarice" and "Razorblades," but also keeps the emotional quotient high with love songs like the acoustic "Hurtlin'." It never feels like you're getting brow-beaten by politics, but important issues aren't ignored either.

One great song in particular is "Old Croy Road" in which Ryan Massey goes through his deceased Father's records, hoping to catch a glimpse of the type of man his Father was. This is the kind of stuff that drew me to punk rock in the first place. Everybody should check this out... and for your convenience I've posted a video below.

It's great to hear these guys again, they reliably put out tough and tuneful street-level punk...

Here's "Old Croy Road" by American Steel...

American Steel: Rogue's March

American Steel: Rogue's March

1999

Lookout Records

Track Listing:  1. Loaded Gun  2. Every New Morning  3. Graveyards  4. Got a Backbeat  5. Rogue's March  6. Whiskey, Women and Blackguarding (Ain't No Cure for a Broken Heart)  7. Hope Springs From Somewhere  8. Insurrection Ave.  9. Bloody Murder  10. One of These Days  11. There Could Be More  12. Optimist  13. Parting Glass

This album was my introduction to American Steel. I discovered it simply by blindly ordering it, as I said in a previous post, I bought almost every release from Lookout Records. No questions asked. I think it still holds up as a highlight of Lookout's late 90's output.

The band smooths things out a bit, but it's still plenty raw.  Musically, they remains blistering punk but they toss in a bunch of cool instrumental touches, such as hints of Reggae and late 50's-early 60's oldies. They make huge strides in the song-writing department, I mean, these are incredible songs! Check out "Got a Backbeat." Is that catchy or what? I also lovelovelove "Insurrection Ave." where the band's white-hot political fury almost recalls the Clash's epic punk outrage! I'm telling you, if you see this disc at your local record shop, pick it up.

(Every New Morning single cover...also a good song!)

I think I might be losing my mind a little, due to the fact that I kind of hear Sting creeping into Rory's vocal inflections. I mean, listen to "Bloody Murder" sometime and tell me what you think... Mostly his approach still sounds like a more sand-blasted version of Tim Armstrong but I think he's getting his vocals under control here and he sounds great.

Just another cool album.  If you're into the grittier side of pop-punk, I think you'll find much to like here...Glad I busted this one out again...Now, you should listen to "Got a Backbeat" with me...You won't regret it...

American Steel: American Steel

American Steel: American Steel

1998

New Disorder Records

Format I Own it On: Compact Disc

Track Listing:  1. Rotting  2. Long Day  3. Fargo  4. Cheer Up  5. Standstill  6. Huckleberry Flynn  7. Crashing Down  8. It's Too Bloody Anyway  9. Close Enough Away  10. Trust  11. Passerby  12. Three Cheers  13. Beat Down  14. Latchkey Kid  15. Decycling  16. Sloppy Fucking Drunk  17. Landmine Lullabye

This is the first album by Bay Area punk band American Steel. These guys pull off that cool old Crimpshrine trick of being rough as hell but never failing to hit you with a catchy chorus... And boy is this album rough;  Vocalist Rory Henderson sounds like Tim Armstrong vomiting, the tempos are out of control and the band sounds like they simultaneously can't keep up and  yet want to keep pushing it faster...Exciting stuff that's a lot more intense than any of their subsequent albums. You also get to hear a distinct ska influence that really only happens here. It's too bad ska kinda became the hair metal of the 90's...used sparingly, it was sometimes pretty cool...

I'd say the standout tracks here are the opener "Rotting" which has an awesome break where the music drops out and only the vocals and drums remain and they just speed up and speed up... Off the top of my head, I can't say I've heard anyone else try that trick before... "Cheer Up" would be a pop song, if it wasn't for the retching vocals and its sporadic outbursts of near-hardcore velocity...Later into their career, this band would tone things waaaaayyyy down, but for now this is prime stuff if you're into the crustier side of pop-punk...

And what sort of drink do you serve to your guests when you're playing American Steel's ramshackle debut at your next Friday Night Record Party?

Hey! Get those Zima's outta here! This isn't the Alkaline Trio "goddamnit" review...Zima won't play to the American Steel Crowd...Try again...

hmmm...Not a bad call  choosing a beer indigenous to the bay area... Still, that seems a little too high class for a gutter punk-themed party...How about...

YES!!!  Steel Reserve! Authentic, and you can also have your guests participate in a fun party game where they go out begging for change until they have the $2.50 to buy one....

Before we pound  these 40's  let's put on some American Steel, "Rotting." Enjoy...