Competent pop-punk brushed with adult bathos is the bill of fare on Rise Against's 2006 album, THE SUFFERER AND THE WITNESS. The Chicago group have everything working in their favor here, with top-shelf production by genre veterans Bill Stevenson (All, Descendents, Black Flag) and Jason Livermore (The Ataris), and an appearance in the 2005 film LORDS OF DOGTOWN building momentum for the group. Musically, Rise Against reside at the intersection of aggression, melody, experience, and emotion, merging the heart-on-sleeve sounds of mid-'80s DC hardcore with professionally solid pop a la Weezer. Singer Tim McIlrath's dusky holler is the uniting factor, carrying songs like the anthemic "Prayer of the Refugee" over the finish line with determination and grit.