Siren Song of the Counter Culture

Anthems of Hardcore Generation
by: Neil 'Wolfie' Sweeney

From when you put the CD in, you are thrown into a mosh pit. “Siren Song of the Counter Culture” just hits, and keeps hitting, and hits some more.

The Chicargo quartet, Rise Against, formed in the breakup of 88 Fingers Louie and .baxter to become a somewhat influential band in Punk. Some of the songs from “Siren Song of the Counter Culture” have been featured in video games such as “Paper Wings” on Burnout 3: Take Down, and “Give it All” on Need for Speed: Underground 2, FlatOut 2, and WWE WrestleMania 21, and even on the anti-Bush album “Rock Against Bush, Vol 1”; even a popular video on You Tube titled “Urban Ninja” used the song with some positive affect.

But the album itself is more than just popularity from one or two songs; it’s a masterpiece in its own right. Though there is a left-wing political view put across in all their songs, the mood is greatly varied from anthemics of “Anywhere But Here” to the raw angst “State of the Union” to that of personal songs such as “Swing Life Away” that grab you emotionally.

This is an album that any Punk fan should, nay, be forced to own as it’s a real setting of the modern hardcore scene done in Rise Against unique and noticeable style. Though each song may not follow naturally, they do hold their own.