Album Review: Lagwagon - Railer

30 September 2019 | 8:58 am | Katie Livingston

"[I]t features the same existential angst as the band’s early days."

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You’d be forgiven for mistaking Lagwagon’s new album, Railer, as an old-school punk CD from 1992 given it features the same existential angst as the band’s early days.

It’s a ragged and growling throwback, but that’s not to say that Lagwagon haven’t come a long way. Railer blends the energy and simplicity of a much younger band, with the proficiency of experienced musicians. Bubble reminisces about a simpler time when Nirvana was still kicking and Lagwagon got "beer for pay", and to top it off Railer closes with a punk cover of Journey’s Faithfully.

But amid this '90s flashback, Railer tackles a variety of topics from philosophy in the Bertrand Russell-inspired track The Suffering, to religion in Pray For Them. Lagwagon’s unflinching opinions come out in their lyrics – but it wouldn’t be punk rock if they didn't.