It’s been more than 80 years since Woody Guthrie painted “This machine kills fascists” on his guitar, and after decades of musicians losing their edge and trading Telecasters for turntables, the ax is back, just in time to stave off the rise of fascism around the globe. Just like how Margaret Thatcher and the Tories set the stage for shoegaze in Britain, guitar-led rock in the United States is making a comeback at a time when walls of distortion and contemplative haze are an artistic way to keep the pigs at bay.