Against Me! made the mistake of releasing one of the more beloved independent label debuts of the decade with 2002's Reinventing Axl Rose, and have been playing a game of catch-up ever since. Tom Gabel's Billy-Bragg-meets-the-Clash songcraft melded punk and folk, the political and the personal, and rocked pretty damn hard as well. Their output since then, while not at all disappointing, has necessarily lacked that shock of discovery. But with New Wave, one gets the sense that the band is hoping to finally move on. Released on a major label with big-time producer Butch Vig onboard, it's a rock record, full of straight-up stomp and swagger. Tracks like "Thrash Unreal" and "Americans Abroad" tear it up with a party-band brashness reminiscent of something like Rocket From the Crypt, or even Jimmy Eat World. But of course, Gabel has more on his mind than just a good time, and beneath the headbanging is a core of frustration and burning discontent with the world, with fame, with being chronically misunderstood. Lines like "you have to fight to stay in control of the situation" (from "Borne on the FM Waves of the Heart") and "are you restless like me?" (from "Up the Cuts") keep barking out from under the guitars, culminating in the soul-searching final track, "The Ocean." You'll have a good time with New Wave, but a sense of unease will be there in the morning, picking at your brain like a memory you can't quite place. --Matthew Cooke