Bad Religion- True North LP

2013 album from the veteran SoCal Punks. In a world still brimming with rampant anti intellectualism, inequality and oppression, Bad Religion's signature brand of sonically charged humanist dissent seems as relevant as ever. On True North, the storied band deliberately revisits and refines the powerful and melodic Southern California sound they helped to define. 16 songs. 35 minutes. Punk Rock.

• 1 True North
• 2 Past Is Dead
• 3 Robin Hood in Reverse
• 4 Land of Endless Greed
• 5 F*** You
• 6 Dharma and the Bomb
• 7 Hello Cruel World
• 8 Vanity
• 9 In Their Hearts Is Right
• 10 Crisis Time
• 11 Dept. of False Hope
• 12 Nothing to Dismay
• 13 Popular Consensus
• 14 My Head Is Full of Ghosts
• 15 The Island
• 16 Changing Tide

4.5/5 Stars (DyingScene.com review)


When I first started to get into punk rock, I didn't know where to start. New sounds were practically begging me to follow them wherever they would take me, but it was all so overwhelming. A whole spider web of bands and sub-genres and scene politics that I was semi-aware of but not comprehending. So, I asked a friend for advice. I asked him for bands, lots of bands- to add to my repertoire of awareness. These weren't the deep and underground; these were the NOFX's and the Anti-Flag’s of the scene distilled into one perfect list for the curious nearly-punk.

Out of all those alluring names, there was one band whose name stood out from the others, and of course it was BAD RELIGION. Perfectly appealing to my teenage atheist sensibilities, I dug into the depths of the internet to find out more. A cursory search revealed them to be 'melodic' and 'intelligent' and 'wordy' among other things that I probably thought sounded cool, but didn’t understand. With a list of buzzwords to aid in my novice appreciation, I pursued Bad Religion, soon realizing they lived up to every journalistic cliche used to describe them. Rocked by their speed, their catchy but idiosyncratic sense of melody, and uncharacteristically bombastic guitar solos– I found my first favorite band.

Years later, I feel honored to be able to write about this punk rock monolith. If I've learned anything, it's that you never really grow out of Bad Religion.

True North is their sixteenth album (featuring sixteen tracks), which is incredible. No matter the actual quality of the album itself, that is an impressive feat. Luckily though, True North has a lot more to offer than a number. The hype around it has colored it as a return to form, a faster and more vital collection of songs meant to hearken back to the era of Suffer and No Control. Miraculously, it does exactly what it promises, and while it's not a perfect record, it comes damn close.

On True North, Bad Religion have culled the best of themselves from a history spanning over three decades. Unlike other scene veterans, content to be just another legacy act, Bad Religion continue to be relevant and exciting. True North is no exception.