Reviews_AFI_Decemberunderground

AFI - Decemberunderground

Decemberunderground

Having established the fact that they can do whatever the hell they want with their major-label breakthrough, 2003’s Sing The Sorrow, AFI used their second big-budget disc, Decemberunderground, to do something eminently self-indulgent: make the kind of album that got them into music when they were kids. Even slicker, sleeker and more immaculately angst-ridden than its predecessor, Decemberunderground dabbles in the cold, crooned, chiseled pop of 80s synth-wave and anthem-rock. But the band's heart is clearly in the right place; this is indeed the kind of music that made sensitive tween hearts swoon in the Reagan era, only overhauled for the 21st century. Bands like the Killers and Interpol may have sprung up out of nowhere to mine this same vein of nostalgia, but with Decemberunderground, AFI show that their conviction, perseverance and hardcore roots bring a whole other level of intensity to what is, more or less, another batch of songs about hormonal alienation and heartache.

Interscope http://www.interscope.com

Categories: