Respite from the Road

He's hanging out in a parking lot in Toledo, Ohio.

It's 1:30 p.m. on a recent Friday afternoon, and Andrew Seward's day is just beginning.

"The first thing I do is roll out, brush my teeth, get a cup of coffee and then go find my putrid, horrible, dirty, smelly show clothes that are still soaking from the night before and try to find a place in the sunshine -- or a fan -- for them to hang in front of," the bassist for Florida folk-punks Against Me! says of the beginning of his daily routine while on the road. "Right now, they're hanging on the club fence. It's like someone dipped them in a pool. It's kinda gross."

Still, Seward's in good spirits, and justifiably so: For this round of dates, Against Me! has graduated from traveling in a van to a bus, and Seward's reasonably well-rested for a change.

"When you're on a bus, it's a lot better because you can sleep, but, when I would drive (the van), I'm used to stopping at gas stations, actually having some kind of social interaction with hillbillies at a Flying J or something like that," he says, chuckling. "When you're on a bus, you're basically just in a submarine that smells like crap. There are comforts, but it is definitely not as glamorous as people think."

Well, glamour isn't something readily associated with this bunch, anyway. Their's is a gritty, raw-throated, shout-along kind of exclamatory rock.

They pen tunes meant to get fists in the air and hearts in throats, and their antecedents are clear: Billy Bragg, The Clash, X, Fugazi.

Over the years, Against Me!'s sound has steadily evolved from acoustic-based agitprop rebel yells to more searching, less linear jams.

The band is touring in advance of its forthcoming fifth disc, "White Crosses," due out June 8.

It's Against Me!'s second release for major label Sire Records, following 2007's "New Wave," which saw the group both fattening and broadening its sound, resulting in an immediate and slightly more multi-faceted rock record.

This time around, Against Me! sought to further push the bounds of its repertoire, according to Seward.

"I think it felt way more well-prepared," he says of the recording process for "White Crosses." "Tom (Gabel, singer/guitarist) went out two weeks early to California and basically just hung out with Butch (Vig, producer) the entire time, and they just sat together and played songs and got stuff really going. Then the rest of us drove out there with all the gear to record. We were in a rehearsal space with Butch for three weeks to a month, like every day, just going over and over the songs."

So then how does he characterize "White Crosses"?

"I have been asked this question before, and I still can't figure out an answer," Seward says with a laugh. "It's different. None of the songs on the record sound the same. They all kind of have their own vibe to it."

Prior to the album's release, the band is road-testing some fresh material, playing four or five new songs a night.

They'll be hitting Vegas as part of the 12th annual Punk Rock Bowling & Music Festival, now in its biggest incarnation yet with more than two dozen bands playing Sunset Station today through Sunday, including some of the groups's friends and former tour mates such as NOFX, the Riverboat Gamblers, Swingin' Utters and more (for a full line-up, go to www. punkrockbowling.com).

For these dudes, it's a little break in the monotony of endless roadwork.

And Seward could use some respite from the stinky laundry right about now.

"Just hanging out for 23 hours a day and having one hour of what you're really here to do, sometimes it can be mind-numbingly boring," Seward sighs of life on road. "But that's why, for that hour, you just have to love it. You have to appreciate it and know how lucky you are. We are absolutely 100 percent grateful for people giving a crap about our band."

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.