The Afraid

With a modern, anthemic punk sound hovering between bands like Anti-Flag and TheGenerators, including a heavy mid-paced momentum and use of huge-chant choruses, the Afraid are not afraid to tackle tough topics, like the psychotic preponderance of guns in America, on their tune "The Last Sound."Urgently, it addresses a crisis that cuts across neighborhoods, religions, and economics. With strong compelling guitar leads, power-play wrist-snap drums, easy-to-digest lyrics, and bass lines that fluidly anchor the grooves, the band offers a strong condemnation of indifference; instead, thenlean into empathy for the dead ones caught in the constant crosshairs and rage against the politics of usual, in which gun policy is forever shunted aside while people bleed over the sidewalks, homes, and workplaces.Plus, the time points out the National Rifle Association's cynical maneuvers to keep guns flowing in the wrong hands. It's a tune that is gripping, focused, and fomenting change in the face of terrible odds.