The Official - AFI Thread

J: First up, if any of the four tracks were chosen to be released instead of Fainting Spells do you believe the acclaim would be as intense as it was for Fainting Spells across AFI’s fan base?

Pablo: I personally believe if any of these 4 songs were released instead of Fainting Spells, people would have gone apeshit. These 4 songs are way better than Fainting Spells, in my opinion.

J: With Sing the Sorrow we witnessed the loss of a fair few members of the AFI community and it seems a greater majority of fans were left behind with DU. Do you believe that Crash Love will alienate even more fans from the band? Or is this a record which has elements that will allow the majority of fans to love this record and accept it for what it is?

Pablo: Based on these 4 songs, I don't think fans will leave. The opposite of that. I think the long time fans who lost interest for AFI will come back and have their expectations and hope for AFI back again. Fans will like this album and not just simply "accept it for what it is".

J: How noticeable is Davey's transition of lyric style on Crash Love? Does the lyrical content still sit with his previous introspective lyrics, or is this ‘social commentary’ theme a completely new side to Davey? Also, has his vivid imagery or the dark and distressing themes present in preceding album’s lyrics been compromised for this new way Davey chooses to express himself?

Pablo: Regarding Davey's lyrics, they're more complex than DU's lyrics but less complex than STS's lyrics. (Being less complex doesn't mean worse). I think the lyrics and melodies are a perfect fit to the music.

J: I know you're a fan of the heavier AFI found on albums such as Shut Your Mouth and Open Your Eyes. From a hardcore music fans perspective, is the departure from screaming a flaw in this album? Or are the vocal performances truly so poignant that we we wouldn’t want to hear a scream from Davey on Crash Love?

Pablo: I really don't think the lack of screaming is a flaw. I think it was the best decision Davey could make considering he can't scream as he used to. A scream in any of these songs would be completely out of place.

J: Do you believe Crash Love will be bigger and more acclaimed than DU among the mainstream community and critics alike? Or is this something that the world’s heard before and will only be regarded as fine to our ears because we are fine tuned to listening, and subsequently appreciating AFI?

Pablo: I don't think commercial success depends on the good music anymore. It only depends on how the label promotes the album, so it's up to Interscope, and not AFI. I think fans will like CL way more than DU.

J: And your final question. Based on what you’ve heard of Crash Love, would this be at the high or low end of your favourite releases?

Pablo: To answer your final question, I think CL will be my favorite album. And this comes from a guy who rejected DU and loves STS and the old stuff.

FILE UNDER: Arena rock of the future
AFI - Crash Love
[4.5/5]
Many of today's bands like to describe their new records as "bigger sounding," simply because they convinced their labels to pay the massive fees for their dicking around in the studio. Most acts could learn more than a few lessons from AFI, a unit who are well aware that sounding big is all about having a vision in the songwriting phase. Which is why Crash Love's dozen tracks are packed with as much exuberance, mystery and drama one can handle.

Overseen by producers Joe McGrath (Alkaline Trio) and Jacknife Lee (Bloc Party, REM), the album is ambitious in its execution. AFI are a dynamic rock band at their core: The rhythm section of Adam Carson (drums) and Hunter Burgan (bass) has matured into a tighter, precise unit; guitarist Jade Puget's sense of the appropriate remains crystal clear; and frontman Davey Havok's cartwheeling down the pretentiousness tightrope puts a sweat-and-blood face to his ruminations on everything from celebrity culture to personal loss. But it's their detail to arrangements and atmospheres that separate AFI from the legion of subcultures who carry battered crosses under a "-punk" suffix. From the 15 seconds of '40s horror-movie ambiance that opens the gothmo "Torch Song," to the '90s-tinged, melancholy-and-menace of "It Was Mine," Crash Love reveals more treasures with repeated listens.

The brisk tempo and Johnny Marr-ish guitar jangle of "Veronica Sawyer Smokes" makes it the best single of 1986. Likewise, "OK, I Feel Better Now" would've been a jewel had it appeared on that Ross Robinson-produced Cure album: Here, it's just greatness as usual, offering a production girth so big, you have to use movie metaphors like "Technicolor," "widescreen" and "IMAX" to convey the vision. It's immediately followed by "Medicate," a pulsing rocker that's the more sophisticated, cosmopolitan cousin to Decemberunderground's "Kill Caustic." Reminding listeners that My Chemical Romance do not have the franchise in the simultaneously anthemic-yet-cocky department, there's "Sacrilege," driven by Puget's '70s guitar histrionics and Havok's loud 'n' proud vocal prowess. This year's model's power ballad, "Darling, I Want To Destroy You," is too animated for slow dances or placement on Grey's Anatomy, but still offers a somewhat dialed-down respite.

What does all this mean in the mythology of AFI? In no uncertain terms, Crash Love is an accomplishment that raises the bar for them as musicians and writers. In many aspects, AFI seem to be exiled on a psychic island of their own. Think about it: The hellfire-and-brimstone punk purists from the scene the band came up in aren't going to be lining up in front of the merch table anytime soon, and much of the spoon-fed American mainstream aren't going to readily embrace their stylistic inversions. Although the members of AFI can't go home anymore, they're exploring more sonic vistas than any random group of smelly dudes in a van plastered with hardcore stickers or Clear Channel-sanctioned modern-rock dullards kicking back in $8K-a-week coaches, combined. Fortunately for music fans, AFI are embracing the spirit of adventure in an age of indifference. (DGC/INTERSCOPE) Jason Pettigrew
GO DOWNLOAD: "It Was Mine