Gallantly Streaming: Bad Religion Gives You Exactly What You Expect

With next week's release date approaching, Bad Religion are streaming True North (their sixteenth album and first in 2 1/2 years) in full.

If you're looking for stylistic detours, you'll have to look elsewhere; Bad Religion rarely deviates from their original M.O., and True North is chock full of speedy tunes, vocal harmonies, and wordy musings and observations. In fact, True North may be guilty of playing a little too close to form; with the exception of two songs this album is wall-to-wall speed.

Dharma And The Bomb plays like a more menacing brand of garage rock, followed by the sludgy Hello Cruel World, which I'm a little shocked hasn't been serviced to radio like slower Bad Religion tracks traditionally are. These two are surely sequenced back-to-back on purpose, a temporary breather from the opening five-song salvo and a chance to steel ourselves for the nine-song onslaught that closes it out.



Not groundbreaking in any way, True North is nonetheless a solid effort, especially considering Bad Religion just entered their fourth decade as a band. If you haven't been sold on the band yet, you won't be with this one. But if you do enjoy what they bring to the table, you'll be able to feast on these songs for a good while.

True North is out January 22 on Epitaph.