AFI

AFI has gotten a lot of flack through the years for its increasingly theatrical approach to screamy hardcore, and also for its ever-escalating amounts of goth-boy makeup. Not that either thing (or any of the shit-talking) has hurt record sales. The band started off nearly two decades ago as a punky four-piece that played undemanding mid-’90s hardcore, and has made interesting musical turns with career markers such as 1999’s darkly heavy Black Sails In The Sunset and 2003’s hit-single-producing Sing The Sorrow. AFI’s newest, 2009's Crash Love, is a fairly steady effort, letting go of much of its predecessors’ hang-ups with incorporating too many influences, and allowing a more straightforward rock sound to emerge.

Updated 07/28/2010