A couple of weeks ago I downloaded the new "Against Me!" album "New Wave". I didnt really know too much about this band but had been reading lots of good things about it, and my friend Tegan sings on it. I like to keep myself up to date with whats going on musically in the world, so I checked it out. I fell in love with the album. Really. Like, couldn't stop listening to it. As heavy and gnarly as it sounds at times, it is unmistakably a pop masterpiece. Listening to it on the way to Australia, I wondered to myself how these songs would sound acoustically.

A couple of days later I was on a flight from Sydney to Melbourne and had the thought "I'd love to cover this album." The whole thing. Beginning to end. So I did.

Anyway, here are the results. If you already know the original album, I hope these recordings shed a different light on it. If you don't know "Against Me!" and like what you hear, go check them out.

Nic Johns is the unspoken hero of this tale. He recorded, produced and mixed it and basically made my dream a reality. Hats off to him.

Hope you guys dig it.

Enjoy!

Ben

Download the full album


{Webmaster's note: MySpace doesn't allow us to embed the streaming audio player here. If you would like to listen before you download, check Ben's main blog at ben-lee.com/blog}