AFI

Decemberunderground

Goth punks AFI return with yet another album that is, following in the tradition of all their other albums, progressively more goth than punk. And less Misfits than AFI!

Not that that's a bad thing, mind - Decemberunderground is possibly the bands most original and exiting album since the classic Black Sails On The Sunset and, in parts, even surpasses it.

The foot-stompingly good first single, Miss Murder, is probably the only out and out mosh pit filler on the album, with the rest of it made up with a wierd amalgam of British pop Goth (ala The Cure), out of date Euro Pop and the odd (but only the odd!) bit of olden days AFI Misfits-ness.

Of course, the album does border on the whiny here and there (straight edge, anyone??), and does come a little bit too close to being a bit (gasp) emo in places, but that can be easily overlooked with the quality and urgency of the songs.

Overall? Focused and clever and, if you can overlook the odd cringe worthy moment, and your not expecting another Misfits cover band type album, Decmberunderground is very highly recommended.

reviewed by ME