Every two or three years you can count on a new batch of high-energy, politically minded punk tunes from these Southern California kings, and “The Dissent of Man” delivers what Bad Religion fans have come to expect. During the track “The Resist Stance,” singer Greg Graffin describes the proper way to nourish “seeds of rebellion,” while the 87-second opener “The Day That the Earth Stalled” skewers the salad-days nostalgia that bogs down many of Bad Religion’s compatriots. Yet among these 15 tunes lurk signs of fresh adventure, like the country-fried pedal steel on “Cyanide” or the rockabilly swagger of “Won’t Somebody,” where Graffin pleads for a “goddamn fix of this toxic change in weather.” None of the new spice here is likely to change anyone’s mind about who Bad Religion is or what the band does. But you have to admire these guys’ determination to keep things tasty.
