nitrox

Jade Puget wields one of his Gibson Les Paul Studio models onstage with AFI. The model's simplicity and lighter weight make them Puget's favorite road axes.

Photo by Josh Massie (@scatteredpictures87)

His playing and production pack a potent punk punch, and now he's leading the group into new darker, more atmospheric territory with the album Bodies.

AFI has always surfed their own dark wave. Although lumped in with the rest of the Warped Tour pack during the pop-punk explosion of the early aughts, the quartet from Ukiah, California (a few hours north of San Francisco) has been defined by their dramatic aesthetic and melodic, hook-laden songwriting—with both typically more refined and art-minded than those of their immediate peers. AFI's anthemic, radio-ready songs and charismatic frontman, Davey Havok, are often the focus of the group. However, the band's secret weapon has long been Jade Puget, a fleet-fingered guitarist and Havok's trusted cowriter. (The band is completed by Adam Carson on drums and Hunter Bergen on bass.)

Read MoreShow less