Strike Anywhere

About

Follow @_StrikeAnywhere Dead FM by Strike Anywhere Remember the first punk band you fell in love with? Can you recall how liberating it was to sing along to words you believed in and what it was like to share a sense of community with complete strangers? Yes, before punk rock was co-opted by major labels, six-figure marketing campaigns, and corporate sponsors, all of us could probably name one band be it Black Flag or Operation Ivy who were responsible for getting us into this punk rock in the first place. For the past seven years, Strike Anywhere have kept that spirit alive for the latest generation of non-complacent youths and Dead FM is their masterpiece. Formed in Richmond, Virginia in 1999, the band’s current and only lineup singer Thomas Barnett, guitarists Matt Sherwood and Matt Smith, bassist Garth Petrie, and drummer Eric Kane have been sharpening their distinctive brand of melodic punk rock punctuated by their 2001 debut LP, Change Is A Sound . However, while 2003’s Exit English was well-received in the press and helped them reach a wider audience via appearances the Warped Tour and tours with acts like Anti-Flag, Dead FM is a return to form for the band; and with the help of longtime producer Brian McTernan, the band were able to capture the explosive energy of their live shows while also writing the strongest songs of their career. “ Exit English was written in three months and Dead FM was written in three years”, Barnett explains. Recorded without the pressure of a strenuous recording schedule, Dead FM’s recording process recalls the band’s early material (which were chronicled on last year’s To Live In Discontent compilation). “We spent nine months away from each other after the Warped Tour, and then we’d meet up on the weekends and write songs because we chose to, not because we had to, so Dead FM shows us getting into different styles and exploring different sounds.” Lyrically, Strike Anywhere have become known for their intense social and political