It says something to me that so far, my favorite of the three is the one by Common. I’ll need more listens of all three to be sure, and I suspect that the Fahey album will end up getting the most rotation eventually, but still.

You’d think Against Me would have impressed this old punk more…it’s got a great beat, you can jump to it, yes, but it just feels so, overall, surprisingly bloodless. I’m bored with anthems that are designed to stir energy and action through sheer intellectualization. (Hence, my dislike of so much slam work.) Tell me a story, please. (Although I do like “The Ocean.”)