Bad ReligionLet's not pretend that Bad Religion’s 17th (!!!) LP is much different than the 16 that came before it (Into The Unknown excluded, naturally). In fact, most noticeable is that the band haven’t lost a step despite losing both Brooks Wackerman and Greg Hetson in the lengthy gap between now and 2013’s well received True North. Age Of Unreason sticks to the Bad Religion formula with 14 cuts of gloriously melodic, hard-driving punk rock (Faces Of Grief and The Approach) interspersed with a few mid-tempo stompers (Lose Your Head and Downfall). People are no doubt going to focus on Greg Graffin’s constant lyrical assaults on the chaos of the Trump presidency, but given he’s always believed that humanity is the architect of its own destruction, this simply feels like a case of ‘told you so’.
It’s a cliche, but Bad Religion don’t make bad (ahem) records. Age Of Unreason is another entry in what must now be considered the greatest back catalogue in all of punk rock.
