REVIEWSRise Against, ‘Endgame’

5

• SPIN Rating:5 of 10

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Release Date: March 15, 2011
Label: DGC/Interscope

Rise Against's strident anti-ignorance messages have coursed through several albums of tightly wound, good-intentions punk. But as soon as frontman Tim McIlrath bridges the half-time breakdown of "Architects" by earnestly imploring, "Don't you remember when you were young / How you wanted to set the world on fire" (echoing Against Me!'s "I Was a Teenage Anarchist" almost word for word), the singer-guitarist just sounds like he's trying to win back an ex-girlfriend. Which could be forgiven if Endgame's other songs -- sans the blistering "Survivor Guilt" and "Disparity by Design" -- weren't turgidly overlong and underfed.