Anthemic Modern Punk Rock
The modern punk rock band Rise Against have mastered the art form of anthemic punk rock, and on the Chicago band's sixth album, Endgame, they come across as being very pissed off in the best of ways. Lead singer Tim McIlrath portrays himself as an "orphan of the American dream", as he rants about various social ills from environmental collapse, to economic inequality and teen suicide.
The powerful lyrics are poems dedicated to unanswerable evils, and they unfold atop a mix of Bad Religion hardcore, metal-guitar action and modern-rock balladry that is evolving into a very popular form. In fact, Endgame is the third Rise Against disc produced by Bill Stevenson of the pop-punk legends the Descendents. Still, all of this success has clearly not done much to brighten McIrath's view of the world. He continues to crank out modern masterpieces that speak to the disenfranchised and victimized like the searing hurricane Katrina-themed song "Help Is on the Way".