Bad Religion: Best punks on earth

By Elizabeth Hill

For the Daily

"Bad Religion is the best punk band on earth," claimed guitarist Brian Baker.

He should know. He's been in the band since 1994 and has been a fan since their 1982 debut, How Could Hell Be Any Worse?

"If I wasn't in Bad Religion," Baker said, "I'd go to every Bad Religion show."

Don't worry if you haven't heard of Bad Religion, they stay prettylow-key for a band that has recorded 12 full-length albums (not counting solo projects or compilations). Longtime legends of the punk scene, they still realize that plenty of music fans out there have no idea who they are, especially those who are younger than the band members themselves. In fact, they got a good look at clueless legions this past summer when they opened up for Blink-182, or as the band likes to say, it occupied the "middle spot."

Wasn't it demoralizing to be the warm-up act for a trio of dick-waving underacheivers? Not so, according to Bad Religion. Rather than focusing on their inferior spot on the tour, they prefer to concentrate on the 10,000-plus per night crowds.

"We had a captive audience of mostly addled 14-year-old girls who had never heard Bad Religion, but know it's cool to say you like them," Baker said. "We gave them an opportunity to do that."

You can have your own chance tonight when Bad Religion plays Clutch Cargo's in Pontiac. And unlike the Blink tour when they would literally "play and then go to a movie," the band will be playing a full headlining set. If you've never seen them, you're in for arguably the best live punk show around. Plus, with a catalog of more than 220 songs and only time enough for 40, even the faithful fan should see and hear something new.

Speaking of something new, the band will undoubtedly play material off their 2000 release, The New America (Atlantic), but they promise they won't bore the audience with a full set of new songs. Bad Religion is known for their live shows. By their own admission, they have become somewhat of a punk Grateful Dead. Many fans of their live shows don't even buy or listen to their new releases, they just come for the scathing live punk that the band consistently offers up.

Frankly, for die hard punkers that only love the live shows, I don't think the new album is for you. It's a great album, don't get me wrong, but if you're looking for the three chord thrashers of Suffer and Recipe For Hate, just listen to Suffer and Recipe For Hate.

The New America, produced by the legendary Todd Rundgren, is without a doubt more stylized and less raw than any previous BR release. The title track bears more resemblance to the rock-musical "Rent" than it does to classic punk songs like "We're Only Gonna Die" or "Do What You Want," two Bad Religion staples. That's not to say that Bad Religion has lost its verve or commitment to the punk sound it pioneered in the early '80s. When asked if the record is due to a new creative vision within the band, Baker conceded, "I think creative vision is pushing a little too far. Those are just the songs that came out this time." Fair enough.

And if you really want to know, The New America is not Baker's favorite Bad Religion album. That would be Recipe For Hate (Atlantic, 1993) followed by Suffer (Epitaph, 1987), neither of which he played on. Baker made a long story short by saying, "It's better than that last piece of shit we put out." But he went on to assert that "(The New America) is the best record we've put out in three or four years."

Buy it or don't buy it, the new album is not the hook here. The thing about Bad Religion is they're amazing live. Veterans of the fast-growing punk fest, the Warped Tour, they simply love playing music and they want people to hear it. "That's the whole point," Baker said.

Even if you've never listened to one song by Bad Religion, it's guaranteed that you've listened to a band that reveres them. From Rancid to Blink to the Offspring to Green Day, they all grew up on Bad Religion and they'd be nowhere without them. Isn't it time you gave Bad Religion a try?

One final Bad Religion note regading the November election: Just when you thought all punk bands were pressing for revolution, think again. Baker warned, "I appreciate the idealism of a Nader vote, but back on earth where I live, it's just complete bullshit."

Courtesy of Atlantic Records

If punks ruled the world, these guys would be respected: California's Bad Religion.