Popular Science: AFI, 'Crash Love'

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AFI'S DAVEY HAVOK is really, really good at being unhappy. And the rest of the hardcore-lite band is even better at making his misery sound fantastic.

After all, the group's had years of practice -- Jade Puget (guitar), Hunter Burgan (bass) and Adam Carson (drums) have been with Havok for 11 years, and have mellowed the band's sound from the furious "Answer That and Stay Fashionable" and "Very Proud of Ya," which were released in 1995 and 1996, respectively, to the more melodic, pop-friendly sounds of their mainstream breakthroughs, "Sing the Sorrow" and "Decemberunderground."

The 2003 and 2006 albums got the band MTV airplay, a VMA for "Best MTV2 Video" and a stint on "Saturday Night Live," all of which helped raise the group's profile and introduced Hot Topic shoppers to Havok's screaming vocal assault and affection for glittery glam. (See: A 2006 interview with Rolling Stone in which Havok discussed his crush on a pre-Sasha Fierce Beyonce, who was getting her nails done next to him in a salon and possessed "the type of beauty that just closes up in your chest, like I was looking at something surreal," and how his love of musical theater shaped his rambunctious performing style. Go figure.)

But while the group's original fans may have rebelled against AFI's MTV presence and Havok's ever-increasing outlandishness (the man basically had more hair phases than the cornrow-loving Axl Rose, and that's saying a lot), it's almost as if his fashion choices reflect the band's musical ones. The caked-on makeup, fishnet shirts and too-tight girls jeans of a few years ago were indicative of a flashier, showier time in the band's history, one in which '80s-channeling synthesizers were distressingly ubiquitous. It's not that "Sing the Sorrow" and "Decemberunderground" were bad per se, but they often veered into an overzealous application of new sounds and sonic textures that didn't seem to perfectly jive with a band that cut its teeth on California punk.

Diehard AFI aficionados should be happier now, though, as Havok's calmer look (the jet black, Misfits-like 'do is out for a shorter, ashy blonde bouffant that would make Conan O'Brien proud) reflects a more straightforward, rock-centered sound for the group on their latest, "Crash Love." Don't let the somewhat goofy, new wave-esque album art of a yellow heart (seriously?) mislead you -- the 12-track collection is a no-frills endeavor that balances Havok's and Puget's penchant for electronica (the two formed a synthpop side project, Blaqk Audio, in 2006) with the band's original hardcore sound for a result that's both supremely listenable and highly addictive.

The album starts off on the right foot with opener "Torch Song," which launches right into Havok's pining unhappiness and the band's familiar call-and-response vocal style. As Havok laments, "I tear out of my eyes for you, my dear," the rest of the band chimes in, "Hate me," and the duality continues throughout the rest of the chorus, as Havok describes tearing out his soul and being "so enthralled I might die." It's very Heathcliff and Catherine with a dash of Edward and Bella, but what else would be expected from a man who has also written about killing himself to make a lover stay and being involved with someone who "bit my lip and drank my warmth from years before?" If you can't handle the melodrama, you shouldn't be listening.

That heartbreak continues throughout, as Havok bounces between lamenting the loss of his love and spitefully tearing apart what they once had (if you're expecting non-"Romeo and Juliet" themes, you're in the wrong place), while the rest of the gang delivers steady, balanced instrumentation along the way.

For example, the charmingly relatable lyrics of "Veronica Sawyer Smokes" ("Oh, I saw you every time I closed my eyes/ In the Hughes film I had scored/ Produced and starred in, in my mind") juxtapose well with its sharp, lilting instrumentation, which brings to mind Johnny Marr's legendary guitar lines for the Smiths before switching into a grinding power ballad during the song's chorus.

If you're in the mood for something more morose, there's plenty to choose from -- such as "Darling, I Want to Destroy You," in which Havok smirks, "I've watched you for years/ And here's my favorite part/ Where you beg for my heart/ And I disappear" -- but the best songs are the ones that stay firmly out of ballad territory and keep a hard instrumentation throughout, such as "Okay, I Feel Better Now" and first single "Medicate."

With the former, Puget employs some guitar flourishes as Havok scoffs, "Show your words, I'm bored with mine/ Nothing is new/ Don't despair, I rarely cry," and on "Medicate," Burgan and Carson make their presence known as they provide a solid bass-and-drums backdrop for Havok's angsty lyrics about how "you don't even know my name." The breakdown in the middle of the track, which brings to mind fantastic single "The Leaving Song, Part II," doesn't hurt, either.

And whether the group decides to switch things up and go down the narrative route (with murder-themed tracks "End Transmission" and "Beautiful Thieves," which weave tales about grabbing guns, burning stuff and taking "a little life") or stick to their original hardcore sound (such as on "Sacrilege," on which Havok returns to the spitfire vocal style that was all over the "All Hallow's EP"), it's all music to our ears. Uh, literally.

Will "Crash Love" be all over MTV? Probably. Will AFI fans mind? Also likely, but they shouldn't. Havok and Co.'s latest album deserves all the attention it can get.

» Merriweather Post Pavilion, 10475 Little Patuxent Pkwy, Columbia, Md.; MTV Ulalume Festival with Paramore, AFI, Dead by Sunrise, Kid Cudi and more, Fri., Oct. 23, 4:30 p.m.; $35; (410) 715-5550.

Written by Express contributor Roxana Hadadi
Photos courtesy Nasty Little Man