Once again, real life disrupts my creativity. I spent this last month worrying about tons of things I had very little control over. For this ‘New Music Monday’ I had hoped to review some new entry which was more listener-friendly so that more readers would be inclined to check it out instead of my thrash, in-your-face, angry, the-system-is-against-me, music.

Sorry. I ran out of time. Out of due diligence, I’m opting to fall back on an old reliable. Now, it sort of just fell into my lap and maybe that’s what makes this review even more appropriate. This is one of my favorite groups of all time. I only have three groups where no matter what they release; I’ll fawn over it no matter how horribly it sounds or resemble the aural equivalent to excrement. And this is one of them.

Authority Zero is back together after taking a little break with the new release “Stories of Survival.” I love this fricking band and always felt like if I were to ever have pursued music with my little brother, this is what it would sounds like. For the uninitiated Authority Zero is loud with a heavy influence of ska, reggae, and skate punk. Successfully and efficiently, it channels my inner-13 year old adolescent.


Before I go into the review which will obviously be ‘unbiased,’ let me explain my obsession. It was summer 2004 and we’d been through an absolute shit stain of a year. Unbeknownst to us, it was going to get a little worse. We moved up to Seattle from Long Beach as our lives took a dramatic turn with the loss of my brother, the pregnancy of my wife, the dysfunction of my job, and the impending terminal illness of my mother-in-law.

While looking for a house, my pregnant wife and I were living with my mother-in-law in her little rambler in the hood. It was a small place with my wife, me, my mother-in-law, her boyfriend, and her boyfriend’s son all to live. No privacy and one hell of a commute to work. One night, the five and half of us were watching Third Watch. Bored by the episode, I remember hearing a song at the end of the show which hit me hard. The show was good at locking in great music at the end as the story was wrapping up. Once, even Green Day and “The Boulevard of Broken Dreams” was used.

Anyway. The song was “Find Your Way” by Authority Zero. I was on the internet, searching out newsgroups and threads the next day to find out who the hell this band was. And after work, I hit Best Buy and picked up “Andiamo.” That record was life changing. I’ll always remember everything my wife and I went through in 2004 and 2005. Authority Zero is my life then, just as it is now.

So this is less about a review and more about how music can map your life. It marks major intersections with signage on your life’s journey. Forever, “Andiamo” will mark loss in my life and the start of a great family. In a coincidental parallel to then, we’re going through major life changes now. And again Authority Zero releases a record which zeros in on my soul with laser-targeting accuracy.

“Stories of Survival” is just that, a collection of stories of making your way through the chaos of life and holding on to the few things that matter; your faith, your friends, and your family. Don’t get me wrong here; it’s edgy, fast, and loud just like my life. But get past that and listen to the message in the lyricism. Jason DeVore is an incredible storyteller who can capture emotion and bottle it like lightning. This record is what feelings sound like.

To make this easy on you, I’m not going to subject you to my weak musical assessments. Instead, I ‘m going to note a few songs and the poignant lyrics of each which really connected with me. I hope this will encourage you to find music out there which, just like a very close friend, will take care of you in your formative times.

“Brick in the Wave” – Do you remember acting up and acting out. Not following the herd Now they see it in your eyes. Your actions speaking first as you rise with a will to survive.

“Get it Right” – No you’re not dead, no not quite yet. This is your time, How far will you take it?

“Crashland” – As we stand in awkward silence, and we see these crazy things. As this world goes on corrupted, we lose sight of our being.

“Liberateducation” – Here we go again. Liberated and alive, with unrelenting words and a strong will to survive.

I know that listening to a genre of music like this can be a little intimidating and even tiring. It’s loud and fast. But don’t discredit the purity in the emotion that created it. Those feelings are woven through the lyrics. Because of all that my wife and I have endured over the years and even now, Authority Zero is knotted to the thread of my existence. People are always looking for a signs to guide you. For me, I found it in this music.

While your preferences may differ greatly from mine, I encourage you to open yourself to the healing powers of feelings put to sound. Whether you like Dave Brubeck, David Hasselhoff, Cher, or Authority Zero, there’s a message out there specifically tailored for your heart. You just got to listen and your life will change.