$85.99
This is a pre-order item shipping on or near June 19, 2006
SKU / Catalogue Number
UPC / Barcode: 199957462853
AFI’s DECEMBERUNDERGROUND is back for its 20th anniversary in a limited transparent smoke vinyl pressing, released on 19 June 2026 through Interscope as part of the RSD Essentials line. It is the album’s first vinyl pressing since 2006, and the new edition faithfully recreates the original LP in a gatefold jacket.
As a record, DECEMBERUNDERGROUND is where AFI fully committed to scale. Earlier records had the bite, the speed, and the emotional volatility, but this one sharpened all of that into something more cinematic and more immediate. It is darker than straightforward radio rock, slicker than their punk roots, and packed with that very specific mid-2000s sense of drama that AFI wore better than most of their peers. This is the album where they turned tension, glamour, and alienation into something huge. You can hear that in the way the songs move between icy atmosphere and massive choruses without sounding forced. The reissue coverage also notes that it includes all 12 original tracks, including “Miss Murder,” the song most closely tied to the album’s breakout success.
What makes DECEMBERUNDERGROUND endure is that it is not just a product of its era. It absolutely sounds like 2006, but in a way that still works. “Miss Murder” is the obvious entry point, and yes, it still hits, but the album has a stronger internal mood than people sometimes give it credit for. “Love Like Winter,” “The Missing Frame,” and “37mm” help give the record its identity, where the hooks are big but the atmosphere still feels cold, fractured, and a little theatrical. This was AFI balancing accessibility with personality, and they pulled it off well enough for the album to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and later go Platinum in the US.
From a review angle, DECEMBERUNDERGROUND works because it refuses to sound casual. Everything is stylised, every chorus reaches, every arrangement is trying to pull you deeper into the album’s world. That can make it feel a little overdesigned if you prefer the rawer AFI records, but that is also the point. This is AFI in widescreen mode, and when it lands, it lands hard. It is a record about mood as much as momentum, and that is why it still has a hold on people nearly twenty years later. The transparent smoke version is a smart fit too, because this album has always looked and sounded like something half-lit and restless.
2 in stock
This is a pre-order item shipping on or near June 19, 2006
Tracklisting:
