CD Review: Tom Gabel – “Heart Burns”

By Mario Moretto

Posted on Monday, November 3rd, 2008, 12:00 am

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I need to preface this review by saying I did not go into it with a completely open mind. I’ve been a long-time fan of Tom Gabel, front man for Against Me!, a formerly folk-punk act now reduced to boring rock ‘n’ roll. And like many Gabel fans, I was nothing short of heartbroken when I heard Against Me!’s latest CD, “New Wave.” It was like getting sucker punched in the gut. So when I heard Gabel had a solo EP coming out, I was nervous. Really nervous.

Would it be a return to Gabel’s folk-punk roots? Would it be a recreation of his band’s seminal “Acoustic EP” or just more “New Wave” tripe? While not completely sold on this album as the second coming of my former hero, I did enjoy it.

The lyrical content is timely. “Cowards Sing at Night” is a not-so-thinly veiled jab at Sen. John McCain’s use of his time in Vietnam as a centerpiece of his campaign. Gabel urges over and over, “Come back home Johnny / Come back home from Vietnam,” suggesting the senator never really left. Another choice track is “Amputations,” featuring back-up vocals by Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba, in which Gabel laments the loss of youth suffered by young men and women in the service.

The buzz around the record centers on “Anna is a Stool Pigeon,” which Gabel wrote in response to hearing about environmental activist Eric McDavid, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison for conspiring to use explosives to damage corporate and government property. McDavid was caught with the help of an undercover agent, Anna, who posed as a fellow activist. According to the song, “Eric fell in love with an FBI informant / He shared his dreams of revolution / Now he’s sitting in solitary confinement / Anna thinks she a hawk, but she’s just a f—ing snitch.” You can say what you will about Gabel’s “selling out,” but the fact that he signed to a major label but still has the balls to pen, record and promote a song that sympathizes with militant radical activists shows a level of chutzpah that I can still get behind.

The only real throwaway track on the album is “Random Hearts,” which sounds like an abandoned song from “New Wave.”

It’s almost as if by separating himself from the Against Me! brand, Gabel was able to reclaim the sense of urgency and honesty that used to be his hallmark, especially on “Harsh Realms.” This song could easily have been released on “… As The Eternal Cowboy” and been right at home there with “Cavalier Eternal.” It outshines the hell out of the album’s supposed centerpiece, “Anna is a Stool Pigeon,” with its stripped down setting where Gabel is most at home – just him and his guitar.

Grade: B