Agnostic Front howler Roger Miret's third album with his band the Disasters once again documents his fondness for old-school British punk in the manner of
Sham 69,
the Clash, and
U.K. Subs, and there's no doubting he loves this stuff with all his heart and soul -- on
My Riot, he summons up a fierce passion that would do any of his influences proud, and certainly rivals the vocal firepower of any of his classic recordings with AF. The only trouble with this stuff is that, for good or ill, Miret was a genuine trailblazer during the salad days of New York hardcore, creating a sound with Agnostic Front that dozens of other bands followed, while his work with the Disasters covers ground that an awful lot of acts have trod before. Saying that
My Riot is every bit as good as anything
Rancid ever recorded almost seems like damning it with faint praise; like that band, Miret and his crew's belief in this music is palpable, and they play it with taut precision, emotional fire, and the kind of
esprit de corps that one rarely hears outside of the live side of the first Sham 69 LP. The best songs deliver the same sort of energy, especially "Once Were Warriors," "Another Generation," and a tribute to one of his role models, "Ramones." But also like Rancid, it's hard not to feel like you've heard this before even when the disc is spinning in your player for the first time; like an obsessive rockabilly or garage rock revival act, Roger Miret & the Disasters play music that's defined by the past rather than the present, and as good as they are (and they are quite good), you'd probably be better served pulling
Tell Us the Truth or
Damned Damned Damned off the shelf instead.
