Strike Anywhere Reviewed

Strike Anywhere
Dead FM
(Fat Wreck Chords)

Richmond, Virginia’s Strike Anywhere aren’t a “do what I say, not what I do” gang of kids: The name is a warning.

Singer Thomas Barnett kicks Dead FM off with “Sedition,” a tale of the government blindfolding an uncle involved in the Manhattan Project. While international conspiracy and deep-cover string-pulling have derailed more than a handful of well-meaning punks, Barnett resurfaces and later fires shots for the gay community, against censorship, and about Australian riots within a compact, coherent half hour. Strike Anywhere aren’t the most cutting-edge punks around — take some of Rise Against’s recklessness away and there you go — but tracks like “Prisoner Echoes,” “Gunpowder,” and “Iron Trees” don’t allow much time to consider all that.