AFI makes hits without trying
PREVIEW | 'Crash Love' rocks harder
When the members of AFI began work on their 2006 album "Decemberunderground," they "tried really hard not to think about it as the followup to a big, successful record," guitarist Jade Puget says.
Of course, that's precisely what it was: "Decemberunderground" came three years after "Sing the Sorrow," the band's major-label debut and the album that introduced AFI to a mainstream audience 12 years after it formed in Ukiah, Calif. Driven by the rock-radio hit "Girl's Not Grey," "Sorrow" became the band's first platinum set, and it has sold 1.2 million copies, Nielsen SoundScan figures indicate.
When: 8 p.m. Saturday
Where: Riviera Theatre, 4746 N. Racine
Tickets: $26-$28 (800-745-3000; ticketmaster.com)
"Decemberunderground" went on to sell 993,000 copies. It produced AFI's biggest single, "Miss Murder," which peaked at No. 24. So when Puget and his bandmates set out to make a followup to their second "big, successful record," they figured it made sense to take the same approach. The result, "Crash Love," is more of a straightforward rock album than the synth-heavy "Decemberunderground."
"Strategizing to write hits is such a downfall for bands," Puget says. "Try too hard and often it doesn't happen. We didn't want to follow the template and write 'Miss Murder 2' in order to maintain our popularity and sales. We just wanted to make a good document of where we are."
Singer Davey Havok attributes the shift in sound to the release in 2007 of "CexCells" by his and Puget's electronic duo Blaqk Audio.
"When Jade and I started writing 'Crash Love,' we'd just come off the tour for 'CexCells,' so sitting down and starting to create music with guitars was unexpectedly refreshing," Havok says. "It was exciting to play rock music again."
Joe McGrath, who shares production credit on "Crash Love" with Jacknife Lee, says the new album channels the guys-in-a-room vibe of older AFI records like "Black Sails in the Sunset" and "The Art of Drowning."
But it's not a retrenchment, according to McGrath.
"The writing has evolved," he says. "Now they're writing rock songs with memorable, accessible melodies that have a poppy edge to them."
Core fans haven't been left out of "Crash Love," Puget says. Earlier this year, AFI invited its audience to submit videos of themselves "talking about whatever." The band selected six entrants and flew them to Los Angeles, where they contributed backing vocals to the new album.
"Your relationship with your fans only changes over the years as much as you want it to," Puget says. "Some bands need to play the part of the big rock star. When we hang out with our fans, it's the same as it was 10 years ago."
Billboard