| The Process Of Belief finds Bad Religion returning to their roots in two important aspects. First, original guitarist Brett Gurewitz has rejoined the ranks, bringing with him the taut song writing skills that made Bad Religion hardcore pioneers in the mid-80s. Secondly, the band has returned to Gurewitz's extremely successful indie imprint Epitaph after years on a major. The result is an album that captures the clean joy and vigour of melodic hardcore without sacrificing its moral core. Songs like "Supersonic" and "Prove It" are fast, catchy and irresistible, prime ADD punk that's over before you know it. But it's the likes of "Materialist" and "Kyoto Now" that find Bad Religion at their best. "You might not think that there's any wisdom in a fucked up punk rock song," sings Greg Gaffin at one point, but his rants against global pollution, ambition and family politics prove otherwise. There are a few surprises too: "Broken" is almost an acoustic chart anthem while "Bored and Extremely Dangerous" could be Sebadoh with a rocket directed towards Lou Barlow's posterior. In all, The Process of Belief is confirmation that you don't need big shorts and a low IQ to make a prime grade punk rock album. --Ian Watson |
