Credit: David Yellen (photographer), Jonah Bayer (writer)
It’s funny—now that the band is successful, they are in a bit of a catch-22: They have to respect the outspoken because that’s who they are. They made their name by dishing it, so they also have to take it. Gabel addresses this on one of White Crosses’s standout tracks, “I Was a Teenage Anarchist,” an anthemic rock song in which he looks back on his former political attitudes. “With the record I spent a lot of time reflecting on growing up in Florida and my past,” he says. “When I think about the people that I used to know and the places I used to hang out, I was a teenage anarchist. Going back to what I was saying about people not wanting you to change, it’s kind of a symptom of … people want[ing] complete autonomy in their own lives. We’re only free to do it if you think exactly the same way we do. It’s convenient politics. In the anarchist dream world everyone would be free to think what they want to think and do what they want to do—but somehow that doesn’t apply to us.”
Perhaps the critics are being given too much credence, but you’d be hard-pressed to find another band with so much street cred yet so much disdain in the punk community. Although Seward isn’t sure why the band has a polarizing effect, he doesn’t mind it: “I appreciate the passion people have for us, whether it’s positive or negative, because it makes life interesting. We are not boring and I thank the stars for that every day.”
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