Agnostic Front
Pledge of Resistance
Alley Katz
Richmond, VA
January 20, 2007
By Jillian Abbene
(SugarBuzz Wash DC/Richmond VA)
Pledge of Resistance is fitting in the line up to play with Agnostic Front. Straight out of Elmont, the lead vocalist, Josh politely chats with me just before the show.
With their new CD, ‘I’m Not Sorry,’ they perform with just that. No remorse, just unapologetic hardcore street punk. These guys play really fast and Josh, spews out some of the fastest machine-gun lyrics I have ever heard.
It doesn’t seem to matter to me, or the rest of the audience, that the lyrics are as lightning fast as the lead guitarists’ hands on the rhythm. I’m glad I am not familiar with these parental advisory lyrics--it gives Rob‘s, (also in The Krays) snarls of lead riffage a new validity to their sound. Lots of guttural screams and gang vocals from their gut.
Driving fuzzed-rhythm effectively delivers the song, ’Nightmare’ as a heavy solid, and brings it home with a middle drawn-out growl, and who could miss the crazy squeals of guitar in, ’Disgusted?!’
Ex-Business bass player, Frank, and Jensen on panging-drums, are also to be credited to such consolidated hard core.
Ever since 1982, Agnostic Front has always been about the underdog, and this night is no different. All jacked-up from the ‘American Hardcore’ documentary, I have this feeling I was about to be accosted by walls of organized chords of chaos, intensely pissed off lyrics, and with no stopping in sight.
Playing songs off of, ’Another Voice’ (2005), Roger Miret leads his batallioned band bathed in a colorful blur of tattoos, his fists pounding, pacing back and forth and not at all a stranger to the Richmond hardcore scene.
Like fanning the fire, Mike Gallo, bassist, cuts loose in the middle of the set, leaning in to the crowd at the corner of the stage while guitarists Vinnie and Joe spearhead political themes in careless chord fury.
With a new drummer (than last year), Steve Gallo puts out a fantastic job of keeping time as if on automatic. It takes my breathe away how closely knit their songs are. Words like “fervent“, “searing” and “charred-through,” only begin to describe such daunting intensity.
The lyrics in, ‘Peace’ are poignant in today‘s stance-- “In these times of war today/a choice must be made that no one wants to make/the result is inevitable/no one wins but a side must be taken…” It is current, it is real, and everyone who listens knows it and believes it.
There is no sense of me putting anything that remotely sounds like them. All other bands have only drawn influences from their suicidal onslaught (and the other bands do not even come close.)
Verge of nervous breakdowns from the audience, has even the most docile guy suddenly leap from the inside stage into the crowd, no longer being able to contain his enthusiasm. Facing the audience, Vinnie gives an official military salute in approval of audience participation.
Some old anthems are played with all the fire breathing anger of yesterday, amazed how they are still shelling out the political agendas brought on today. Further, as long as there are innocent people suffering without cause, I think there will always be Agnostic Front to make those who have turned a blind eye, take notice in real hardcore and join their cause.