Siren Song of the Counter Culture is the third studio album by American punk rock band Rise Against. Released on August 10, 2004, it was Rise Against's first album on a major record label, after the band signed with DreamWorks Records in September 2003 and is their first with lead guitarist Chris Chasse. The recording sessions for the album with producer Garth Richardson were mostly split between two studios in British Columbia. These sessions were marred by numerous distractions and inconveniences, such as the absorption of DreamWorks into Geffen Records, the arrival of a new guitarist, accusations of the band selling out, and the birth of lead vocalist Tim McIlrath's child.
Siren Song of the Counter Culture is primarily a melodic hardcore album. It comprises twelve songs, with lyrical themes ranging from social commentary to personal reflection. To promote the album, Rise Against toured throughout North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan. Siren Song of the Counter Culture sold poorly for the first six months, but the band's incessant touring schedule eventually led to a gradual increase in sales. It became their first album to chart on the Billboard 200, where it peaked at number 136, and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
The album received generally positive reviews, with praise for the lyrics, but drew some criticism for a lack of individually memorable songs and perceived overproduction. Three songs from Siren Song of the Counter Culture were released as singles: "Give It All", "Swing Life Away", and "Life Less Frightening". All three songs charted on the Modern Rock Tracks chart. "Give It All" and "Swing Life Away" in particular are credited with helping Rise Against achieve mainstream appeal.
Background and recording
After the release of Revolutions per Minute in 2003, a number of major record labels became interested in Rise Against, including DreamWorks Records. At the time, Rise Against was under contract with the independent record label Fat Wreck Chords. The general consensus among Fat Wreck Chords musicians was that major record labels sacrifice musical integrity in exchange for commercial profit.
The band members went into the album with the assumption that DreamWorks was going to drop them at any moment, so they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity by working with their "dream producer". They chose Garth Richardson, known for his work with heavier sounding bands like Rage Against the Machine and Sick of It All, to produce the album. The recording sessions for Siren Song of the Counter Culture were split between Plumper Mountain Sound in Gibsons, British Columbia, and The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, British Columbia. Richardson insisted on recording the guitar and bass one measure at a time, to ensure perfect timing; as a result, each song took nearly twelve hours to record. Canadian politician Nicholas Simons contributed the cello to four songs. Simons met the band while in Gibsons, and recalled not knowing who they were. The transition period between labels left Rise Against without an A&R representative, and little acknowledgement from Geffen executives. Guitarist Todd Mohney left the band during the writing sessions, was replaced by Chris Chasse of Reach the Sky. Critics have compared the album to works by other punk rock bands like AFI, Bad Religion, Blink-182, Poison the Well, Refused, and Sick of It All.
The first track on Siren Song of the Counter Culture is "State of the Union", a short and aggressive song that contains the most screaming on the album. Davey Boy of Sputnikmusic believes "The First Drop" is more toned down, and acts as a bridge to the third track "Life Less Frightening". "Dancing for Rain" opens with acoustic strumming, before transitioning into a frenetic pace, combining pop elements with punk rock. They participated in the 2004 Warped Tour, and supported Bad Religion in a late 2004 tour. In 2005, Rise Against participated in the Taste of Chaos tour (with Funeral for a Friend, Killswitch Engage, Story of the Year, and The Used), Give it a Name festival (with Alexisonfire, Coheed and Cambria, Fightstar, and MewithoutYou), and the Reading and Leeds Festivals in the UK. McIlrath commented that the band was "touring like maniacs at the time", accepting every show they could get into. For the first six months, the album sold poorly, and attracted little fanfare. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America in 2009, denoting shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States. Elsewhere, the album was certified platinum by Music Canada, denoting shipments of 100,000 copies in Canada; and gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association, denoting shipments of 35,000 copies in Australia.
Three songs from Siren Song of the Counter Culture were released as singles: "Give It All", "Swing Life Away", and "Life Less Frightening". All three songs charted on the Modern Rock Tracks chart, peaking at number thirty-seven, twelve, and thirty-three respectively. Accompanying music videos were shot for "Give It All" and "Swing Life Away". In the "Give It All" video, Rise Against performs in a crowded subway car, while other people travel throughout Chicago vandalizing and defacing billboards and posters. The "Swing Life Away" video is more relaxed, and follows the band members as they hangout with friends. John J. Moser of The Morning Call considers "Give It All" to be the band's breakthrough single, Davey Boy of Sputnikmusic described Siren Song of the Counter Culture as an "impressively energetic and surprisingly accessible package of punk, hardcore and rock all rolled into one", and praised the simple yet effective lyrics. Writing for The Herald-News, Chris Brooks highlighted Brandon Barnes' drumming, and recommend the album to drum fans. Alex Parker of Contactmusic.com complimented the lyrics for their relevancy, and noted their subtlety when compared to Green Day's 2004 album American Idiot.
Boy found the paucity of individually memorable songs to be Siren Song of the Counter Culture biggest issue, and noted the album's lack of immediacy. Loftus ultimately summarized his review by saying "Siren Song of the Counter Culture is simply the band's latest statement ... to recruit more kids for the raging".
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Siren Song of the Counter Culture.
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