Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

The A.K.A.S

White Doves and Smoking Guns

Label: Sore Point Records Release Date: 14/06/2004

Mike_Diver by Mike Diver May 20th, 2004

The A.K.A.S are angry. "About what?" you may ask. Everything.

If the US government ever pulled its fingers out of its collective ears long enough to listen to what the world of rock and roll had to say about its behaviour, it'd likely curl up into a ball and sob itself to sleep. NOFX's Fat Mike has been at them, 800-or-so other bands have followed, and now NYC's The A.K.A.S fancy a pop. 'White Doves...' is lyrically-typical of politically-influenced music - this is bad, this isn't, ad infinitum - but what sets them apart from so many other punk rockers with some shit to lay on the White House lawn is that they've set their well-meant words to some killer, keyboard-heavy pop-punk hooks; imagine something like The (International) Noise Conspiracy jamming Less Than Jake covers and you've the right idea. Should their revolution ever come it'll be sugar-coated, such is the playful pop beneath the punk aesthetics here, but that's to be applauded. The lyrics are delivered clearly enough for even the most cloth-eared pop-punk kid to catch on to, and such saccharine subversion should only be encouraged. "I'll take summer tours and power chords..." states vocalist Mike Ski on 'The Best Way To Beat A Mid-Life Crisis (Is To Be Dead)'; with a debut like this, he'll be swamped with offers.

  • 6
    Mike Diver's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Drowned in Sound's Albums of the Year 2025


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing



Left-arrow

Fleeing New York at Bull and Gate, Camden Town, Thu 13 May

Mobback
6058
8487

Hell Is For Heroes

Transmit Disrupt

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Drowned in Sound's Albums of the Year 2025

  • 106149
  • news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145

    news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143
  • news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141

    news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139
  • Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138

    Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137
  • Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
MORE


    Albums of the Year


    Drowned in Sound's 16 Favourite Albums of 2016

  • 104334
  • Takeover


    British Sea Power's Top 5 Castles in the UK. Ever.

  • 95373

    feature


    Panic Prevention: At the drink with Jamie T

  • 14183
  • Column


    DiS does Singles: Johnny Borrell - Erotic Lette...

  • 91479

    Artist 'n' Artist


    In Conversation: Meredith Graves meets Stuart M...

  • 98796
  • Interview


    Best Case Scenario: DiS Meets dEUS

  • 97106

    Interview


    Neko Case: "You would never deny that a lioness...

  • 92081
  • feature


    This is Our Music: SXSW '06 With No Prospects

  • 94784
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2025 DROWNED IN SOUND