Bad Religion, Stranger Than Fiction (1994)

Tonight I hurried home, dodging shouts from the charming group of gentlemen* walking behind me because I was quite excited to cook my first non-Mexican meal since I've lived here. (Yes, I've lived here a month.) (Yes, I really like Mexican food.) On the cards: prawn, lime and asparagus risotto. All together now: NOMMMM.

Key to the success of this meal was excellent music to accompany what can only be described as a cooking frenzy. (I'm not going to lie, at one point there was open flame.) (What? I'm still getting used to my gas oven.) I put my iPod on with every intention of listening to something mellow and suitably calming, and yet... I found myself.... not being able to get past.... Bad Religion.... and who doesn't love a good '90s throwback while tearing the kitchen apart?

16 year old me** loved this band, and 16 year old me was actually kind of awesome, so I didn't argue with the precocious little wench when she decided we were going to listen to this tonight. And16 year old me was - as I'm sure my parents would tell you, as always - right: it turns out I didn't want mellow at all, I wanted punchy early-'90s punk. 

Just how good is this album?? It is so excellent, and I almost can't believe I forgot how great it is. I alarmed myself, not only by setting my gas oven on fire, but also by knowing all the words to pretty much every track... teenage habits die hard. I love this album for its raw energy, the way it feels kind of excited amongst all the societal angst.  It showcases some actually pretty good guitar work (apparently 'Guitar World' named it the top guitar album of 1994) infectious drums and the three-part harmonies aren't bad either. I kept trying to pick out my favorite track: the facetious "Hooray for Me" was an old favourite, the title track embodies all the pulsing energy that I like about the album and displays some pretty cracking lyrics, and "Tiny Voices" does some pretty fun things vocally. In the end I couldn't choose, so I just enjoyed them all and smiled that wry smile again thinking of all kinds of excellent teenage antics.

I used to really love proper angry angsty punk played badly and loudly. This album is none of those things, but it's bloody brilliant - and I guess that's why 20-something me likes it almost as much as 16 year old me did. And so, open flame aside, I had to enjoy the spectacular irony as I sat down to my horribly bourgeois meal with my glass of German riesling, and listened to early 90s political rants about the middle class. Delightful, not lost on me, and so delicious that I listened to the album loud and fast and twice in a row. 

I told you, NOMMM.

*see look, I can do this diplomacy thing

**for the record, I was not 16 in 1994....