Strike Anywhere

Since its 1999 formation, Strike Anywhere has fought the good fight, hardcore style. The impassioned quartet from Richmond, Virginia, has never strayed from a steadfast DIY aesthetic and socially aware sing-along messages. The live shows spew a furious chunky sound as singer Thomas Barnett bangs his head and twirls his dreads like a helicopter rotor.

After five years with Jade Tree Records, Strike Anywhere joins Fat Wreck Chords for its fifth album, Dead FM. It's a boisterous party of unabashed politics, full of balls-to-the-wall rawk. Such gravel-coated anthems as "The Promise" and "Prisoner Echoes," as well as the spit-soaked melodies "Dead Hours" and "Sedition," recall angry compatriots Rise Against, Lifetime, Avail, and New Mexican Disaster Squad. Strike Anywhere's unrelenting melodic hardcore is better experienced live than on record, where its sound can feel yoked to its illustrious ancestors.