Album Review: Ann Beretta “Rise”
review by Ricky Frankel
Release: RISE
Band: Ann Beretta
Label: Self-Released/Bearded Punk Records
Score: 9/10
Ann Beretta is a band that seems to have been overlooked and underrated in the punk scene. They’ve toured with bands like ALL and Hot Water Music, they’ve played the right festivals like The FEST, and released records through notable labels like Lookout! Records, Fueled By Ramen, and Say-10 Records. Since the 1990s Ann Beretta has been releasing tunes that are catchy as hell. The band members have truly put in their time. So what gives? The band deserves way more credit. And I think their fans know that because when you meet an Ann Beretta fan, they are always HUGE Ann Beretta fans. As a new fan looking from the outside in, I think part of the reason might because the band was broken up for a solid chunk of the 2000s and they haven’t released a new LP since 2003 — until now.
Sometimes when a band goes dormant for a long time and then reunite, and shortly thereafter releases a comeback album, the album falls flat to put it bluntly. It’s not uncommon for that to happen. However, some more famous cases where this was did not happen was when the Descendents came back with the almighty Everything Sucks and more recently when The Suicide Machines made their Fat Wreck Chords debut with Revolution Spring. I’d argue that this is not the case at all with Ann Beretta’s RISE as well. The band has returned with eleven tracks that are all absolute jams.
When a punk band releases a politically charged album, the music’s typical vibe is either unadulterated anger or a sense of hopelessness. But like The Clash before them, Ann Beretta’s RISE is an album filled with politically charged lyrics that aims to inspire hope. It’s anthems like “Better Medicine” and “Molotov Breakdown (Heartbreak Warfare)” that personifies this notion perfectly. “Better Medicine” especially is one of the more stand-out tracks on the record. The song is a sugary anthem that has soaring choruses that will undoubtedly get crowds to scream along. The band seamlessly transitions from choppy, distorted chords of the versus (that might remind the listener of early Stiff Little Fingers material) to the soaring vocals of the choruses. It’s a song that will many fans will be playing on repeat for a long time. In terms of the lyrical content in RISE, the tune “The Real America (S.O.S.)” (which features guest vocals by Strike Anywhere’s Thomas Barnett) really goes hard on the political front with lines like, “The real America has yet to exist/Calling out an S.O.S.,” as does the track “The Sound Of Revolution” with lines such as, “There’s a riot in my heart and I wear it on my sleeve/There’s a ringing in my ears and it’s the sound of revolution – SCREAM!” And while these lyrics (and others) aggressively point out the issues with society, Ann Beretta leaves you feeling optimistic by the end of the album.
Ann Beretta do take a calmer turn in the latter half of the album with the track “Wild, Young, And Free.” And you get that feeling immediately with the cleaner-sounding guitar riff being plucked in the introduction. The whole song’s tempo is much slower than the other ten songs and it does veer away from politically-themed lyrics. Instead the band sings about the freedom that youth brings: “And you’re on your own so just do what you like/When you’re all alone tonight.”
There’s no doubt that RISE is a fantastic album from front to back. So here’s the question going forward: is RISE Ann Beretta’s Everything Sucks? To preface my personal answer, I think it’s too early to tell. The album was only released (digitally) back in mid-February. But I do think it’s worth having that discussion as it ages. I truly have high hopes that it will be up there with Everything Sucks and Revolution Spring as one of best comeback albums in quite a while. It’s really that good.
***
About the Author
Denise Borders 39, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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