A.F.I. - Answer That and Stay Fashionable

I tend to hate that guy who claims to be on every trend before it hit the big time. I have only done this a couple times, both completely by accident. Of course I have bragged about it and hated on anyone who wasn't there from the start. I'm nothing if not a massive hypocrite. Anyway, I saw A.F.I. on the 2001 Warped Tour and was blown away by them. Davey Havok was dressed in tight black leather like he was The Crow or something, and the band absolutely brutalized the crowd (that's a good thing in punk). It was one of the most crazy shows I had ever seen, and I had seen dozens of punk shows by that time. Anyway, I got right onto the A.F.I. bandwagon. They were hardcore and I loved them for it. A couple years later they went sort of goth/alternative with Sing the Sorrow and I hated it. I wanted them to be a punk band for the rest of their lives, but apparently that wasn't on their agenda. Because Sing the Sorrow was a major commercial breakthrough for the band, I was able to play the "they sold out" card. As everyone in the world jumped on the Sing the Sorrow bandwagon, I found myself as the only guy in the world who liked them better as a punk band. I've given it plenty of chances, and I just don't like Sing the Sorrow. It's not that I don't like goth things because I've seen Depeche Mode in concert, I love The Cure, and I own Clan of Xymox on vinyl. I'm goth in every way except the funny pants and makeup. So yeah, after the dust has settled, I don't know why I don't like Sing the Sorrow. I just don't.

That said, Answer That and Stay Fashionable is exactly what I like from A.F.I. They included soundbites from random movies on this album, so it feels like a punk mix-CD from the late 90's (did you guys ever do the thing where you put weird .wav quotes and stuff in-between songs? It was all part of being awesome in the late 90's). The songs are a blur of furiosity (also a good thing in punk) and don't let up for a single moment. As I hear these songs, I am always transported back to that violent mosh pit in 2001 where I first heard A.F.I. It makes me more happy than straight up punk should.