Essential Listening: Bad Religion

Bad Religion (or BR) are one of the oldest and most respected Punk acts still recording. Based out of California in the United States, BR is possibly the most politically active band on the planet; organizing lobby groups and raising awareness of even the smallest government misdeeds. I'm not going to go too much into the politics of Bad Religion, as this is a blog about music, but should you be interested in the social justice side, check out http://www.badreligion.com/ for more information. 

Bad Religion's name and logo (The Crossbuster [above]), mistakenly leads many to believe that the band is wholly anti-religion, however, BR typically promotes an anti-organized-religion attitude as well as promoting the separation of Church and State. 
Musically, a little bit of BR can go a long way; several members of the band past and present have admitted that there is a distinct "BR" sound, as they use the same chord progressions in almost every song. BR's 2011 album "The Dissent of Man" did feature some minor experimentation, but it was overshadowed by the typical BR songs on side one of the record. Despite this, Bad Religion remains one of my favorite bands; their fast rhythm lines and harmonic vocals combine in a unique way that some have tried to emulate, but remains distinctly BR. 

Against the Grain (1990) 

Aside from having fantastic cover art, this album was BR's first really "big" album, insofar as a Punk album about American Fascism can be "big". The song "21st Century (Digital Boy) charted well in Australia and the UK, partially thanks to its pretty damn cool video. Instead of that, here's a song about religious groups trying to hold back science and advancement in the name of tradition. 

The Gray Race (1996) 

The concept of a "Grey Race" is not, as it may first appear, about interbreeding to eliminate racial barriers, but instead about the loss of individuality in a postmodern society. "Punk Rock Song" is about the futility of attempting to change the world by making music. However, the act of dissenting is better than doing nothing and hoping things get better. 

The Empire Strikes First (2004)

Not actually about forest fires, but rather about the film industry, "Los Angeles is Burning" is my favorite BR song hands down. The bass line is fantastic and great fun to play. Seeing BR do this live was fantastic, the whole venue roared along, way out of tune. 

Hat Guy - Missing you is like kissing cyanide.