Punk rock has always been a rebellious genre and fun to listen to with the rapid fire lyrics, fast paced guitar and powerful drums.

Rise Against uses all of those elements while tackling political problems in the United States with some bashing of the current president. Tim Mcilrath, lead singer, explains that they made this album because “Rebellion in the age of Trump is more important than ever and I want Wolves to play in the fight back for equality and justice.”

Their eighth studio album Wolves, shows off Rise Against’s ability to play their style of music in order to convey a message about their thoughts of America.

We start with the first track, “Wolves.”

“Wolves” is a solid opening track. Mcilrath’s vocals are powerful and the guitar is fast and furious. When Mcilrath yells “We are the wolves at the gate” he means he is upset with authority and is angry at the direction we are heading. I believe that this was a perfect opening song to really get their theme across.  

“House On Fire” and “Politics of Love” are two songs that are more personal while still retaining political values. “House On Fire” is about a man who stays with a woman who he loves very much and will do anything, but she continues to push him away and “Politics Of Love” is about a man who constantly thinks about his significant other who will never come back. The downside to both of theses is that I’m  not seeing the political connections to them and they’re pretty repetitive, a big flaw for this entire album.

“Mourning in Amerika” and “How Many Walls” are the songs that really attack Trump. “Mourning in Amerika” being about Trump’s victory in the election and “How Many Walls”deals with the comments Trump made during his campaign and how politicians have constantly lied and denied the U.S. change which fits really well with the album. The musical aspect of the songs are lacking diversity, but later down the the track listing like I mentioned got really repetitive and kind of stale to listen to. The bright spots on this album have to be “Welcome To The Breakdown” and “Miracle”, both songs just really have the fire and intensity that every Rise Against fan wants to hear. “Welcome To The Breakdown” is again about, not only Trump, but his supporters being the reason this country is going to fall apart.

“Miracle” in my opinion is the best song on this album. It has everything you want out of Rise Against, the intensity in Mcilrath vocals and the heavy guitar from Zach Blair really make the song for me. This song takes on not backing down and standing together in a time of crisis.

Overall, this album is a must listen, All rock fans can at least find one or two songs they will enjoy. This album has the quintessential Rise Against sound and is really heartfelt and powerful to someone who is upset about the election. On the negative side it gets very boring and repetitive. All in all, this album gets a 4 out of 5 stars, showing that Rise Against can still create great music.