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Rise Against

This Is Noise EP

Written by: PP on 02/08/2007 03:49:52

Many bands release tour-only EP's and Rise Against are no exception. Without knowing better, and because I'm feeling particularly lazy past 2am in the morning, I'm going to just simply assume that the Canadian releases of their past two albums didn't include bonus tracks, as their "This Is Noise" Canadian tour EP consists of the two bonus tracks for "The Sufferer & The Witness" and "Siren Song For The Counter Culture" as well as a song they contributed for the "Lords Of Dogtown" soundtrack.

It was a smart choice to leave out these tracks as bonus tracks only though, and I'm sure the few Canadians who bought the EP will agree with me. The Lifetime cover "Boys No Good" isn't nowhere near as good as the original even though it has been transformed into a Rise Against sound. The same applies to the two Black Flag covers "Fix Me" and "Nervous Breakdown", which ultimately sound like NOFX did in the 80s, i.e. like crap.

The EP is saved from the gutter by the two original songs "Obstructed View" and "But Tonight We Dance". The first one is an obvious "Siren Song.." b-side, given its aggression and lacking in production. "But Tonight We Dance" is perfectly produced and has more melodic hooks, but it still has the same problem as "Obstructed View": it really sounds like a b-side track in comparison to the actual albums.

It's understandable Rise Against only wanted to share this with their most dedicated fans at the shows. The critical response to this EP would've been as appalling as it is on this site, and it's only true purpose is to fulfill the collection of the true fan. The casual fan should stick to their main records.

Download: But Tonight We Dance
For the fans of: Black Flag, 88 Fingers Louie, Good Riddance
Listen: Myspace

Release date 01.08.2006
Self-released