Album Review: Anti-Flag - The General Strike

Anti-Flag truly need no introduction, a band of Pennsylvanian punks with two Chris’ and a message, they’ve been on the road letting the world know what must be done since 1996’s ‘Die For Your Government’, and those who have not yet listened to ‘The Terror State’ and ‘For Blood & Empire’ have some serious catching up to do if great music is what they’re lacking.

And although it seems like only yesterday that ‘The People Or The Gun’ was released, it has in fact been around three years since we last saw an official album from the rockers who inspired Rage Against The Machine’s Tom Morello to tour with them as The Nightwatchman, and boy, the old shoe still fits, even the album’s introduction harks back to the old days of hardcore punk, a minor threat feel opening up the raw-sounding record with what is surely the musical equivalent of a bang, a wall of anger that is a repeated theme in ‘Bullshit Opportunities’, a guitar-driven rant targeted at those who ‘decide what success is’ and ‘define what wealth is’.

On the note of punk rock nostalgia, ‘Neoliberal Anthem’, the second track on the album, has the simplicity in both its lyrics and chord structure that harks back to The Ramones, and perhaps marches to the beat of the same drum, no-one can deny however that the overall message has Anti-Flag written all over it, from the speed the guitar is shredded to the thought put into every word, its refreshing to know how hard this band is still trying towards a cause that is so obviously worth their time and effort.

Another highlight of the album is the more classic-sounding ‘The Ranks Of The Masses Rising’, an ode to the growing awareness of the power of protest and revolution, feeding on the classic Anti-Flag ethos as well as lighting the fuel they have been waiting for with a large flame for those in the world who are catching on to the same messages the band has spent their career spreading.

All in all, this is a great addition to Anti-Flag’s growing list of great albums, and one that contains more energy than a bowl of lucky charms and more spunk than Charlie Sheen’s testicles.

4/5

'The General Strike' is released March 20th through SideOneDummy Records.

Edward Strickson