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“The goal of Rise Against for me was to always inspire change for the better,” bassist/co-founder Joe Principe says, in the wake of releasing their new album, Ricochet. “That’s what bands like Bad Brains, Minor Threat, and 7 Seconds did for me, and I like to think they passed that torch to us. We just present the facts and let our audience make up their own minds on how they want to use that knowledge.” From the raw independence of 2001’s The Unraveling to the mature, interwoven throughline of their latest, it’s clear that the Chicago punks uphold that ethos in everything they do. Across their sharply honed catalog, Rise Against have never been afraid to get real, tackling the cost of war (“Survivor Guilt”), environmentalism (“Ready to Fall”), and political disillusionment (“Re-Education (Through Labor),” “State of the Union”) with melodic rebellion.
Read more: 25 best Rise Against songs, ranked
However, the band don’t only sing about those issues — they lean in. Through their beginnings on Fat Wreck, plant-based diets, and partnering with organizations like the It Gets Better Project and Amnesty International, Rise Against continue to advocate for a better world, never relenting in their desire to feel heard, seen, and connected with one another. As bandleader Tim McIlrath says of the album title, “Everything you do is going to affect somebody; everything you throw will affect the next person. We’re connected to other countries, other economies; we’re connected to undocumented immigrants. We’re connected to every decision our leaders make. It’s all one big ricochet effect.” In that same way, their music demands action and reaction.
With the band recently starting their joint headlining tour with Papa Roach, Principe tells us about their songwriting process, staying open to growth, and seeing “every record as a stamp in time.”
With such a noteworthy and extensive discography, how do you maintain the signature Rise Against sound while allowing for growth and experimentation?
We live and breathe Rise Against, so the core sound and inspiration are ingrained in us. The growth and experimentation come from our yearning to constantly push ourselves to do better. And we’ve always been influenced by what we’re listening to at the time of writing.
In writing an album so focused on interconnectedness, did you find your own perspectives shifting in the process?
It’s very easy to lose sight of an overall picture when you’re working on 12 individual songs. Tim’s lyrics have always found a way to connect the songs to make a cohesive album, though.With so much of your work rooted in social commentary — how has your view on the band as a platform and your role as artists/cultural commentators changed over the years, and where does that fall with this album — in this political climate?
Our goal is to leave our mark and hopefully that inspires change for the better. The goal is to leave this place better than how we found it. That’s not happening with the current administration, but we can certainly use what we’re seeing and learn from it. We can use that fuel to pave a better path in the next election.
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Looking back at your discography, where do you see Ricochet fitting in? Is it a continuation, a departure, or perhaps a recalibration?
I look at every record as a stamp in time. Ricochet is no different. With moving production teams, there was no doubt in our minds that we were going to get a different record, but that was the goal. Having been a band for 25 years, a departure in sound can be educational, enlightening, and scary, but we grow as creatives in doing so.
You mention that Ricochet explores the idea of global and interpersonal interconnectedness — undoubtedly a timely and resonant theme. What catalyzed this direction for the album? What’s the bridge from your last release or what you’ve been up to since?We never have a direction when we start writing a record. It starts to take shape very late in the writing process, but I feel like it’s impossible to ignore what’s going on in the world. We can’t help but let that seep into our music. Ricochet was written pre-2024 presidential election, but the feeling of division globally was very palpable. Bringing the idea that we’re all connected was a natural reaction to that.
The title track anchors the album’s message with the notion that “everything you throw will affect the next person.” How did this metaphor evolve across the record — with the narrative, and the sonic architecture?With every Rise Against record comes a sense of hope and change for a better world. A positive outlook always pokes through the murk.
The album suggests a kind of collective responsibility — a recognition that our actions, even unintentional ones, carry weight. Was that an idea that emerged naturally, or was it something you consciously set out to explore?That idea emerged naturally. I was always told to treat others the way you want to be treated, and I think that simple advice gets forgotten about or ignored in adult life. It’s all about respect and compassion.
How did the songwriting process on Ricochet compare to your past albums? What about sound design, production? How did the changes, if any, reflect the themes?Our records start the same way — four guys in a room, hashing out ideas. Record themes, art, and production really take shape a few weeks into the recording process, but it always feels like we come to those forks in the road and decide which path to take very naturally.
