Anti-Flag are a 5-piece melodic punk band from Pennsylvania, USA. As their name suggests they are a band with some deep-rooted political ideals. Punk and politics have been linked since the inception of punk way back in the day. AF continue this tradition of protest music, backed up with them actually taking an active role in direct action and protests against the idiot son of an arsehole who currently resides in office in the US. I'm not sure if this is the place to bring up political ideas but with a band like AF the music and the politics go hand in hand.First song, "Turncoat" sounds like Against Me! styled folky, acoustic rock mixed with Citizen Fish harmonies and pace. Lyrically the song is based around accusations of Bush Jr being a "Turncoat, Killer, Liar and a Thief". These charges are thoroughly explained with a full page of the inlay dedicated to citing examples and references to said charges.
Next song "Rank and File" is a more traditional sounding punk rock song, medium paced, great harmonies, hooky chorus and with the inevitable gang vocals it's got all the ingredients for a great punk song.
Best song on the album has to be "Operation Iraqi Liberation (O.I.L)" - great guitar parts with some excellent harmonies and bass breakdowns, catchy as ever, aggressive vocal parts, with some interesting samples, all good.
Overall the album has all the ingredients to be a great punk rock album, catchy, hooky choruses, melodic driving guitars, great bass sound, excellent thought provoking lyrics, a production by RATM/Audioslave axe wielder Tom Morello and to top it off you get great artwork and a genuinely informative inlay book. In such an apathetic age it's nice to see the tradition of protest music been continued by people who genuinely give a shit.
