Anti-Flag - The Bright Lights of America

Genre punk rock Publisher RCA External Links Anti Flag Website

Unfortunately, Anti-Flag's The Bright Lights of America is as much of an original and groundbreaking punk album as the British twinge they have managed to put on the occasional lyric. This Pittsburgh born band has appropriated the sound of The Clash without developing or building upon it. They've taken something that was once original and made a tonal photocopy without including any of the wry, sardonic wit that makes punk great.

Although the guitar and percussion have much to be desired in the originality department, these guys do deserve some credit. Anytime someone takes it upon oneself to educate an audience about important issues, while at the same time entertaining, they must be lauded. Anti-Flag brings up some very important issues on The Bright Lights of America - most of them regarding the United States' current prison situation and our domestic policy. It is easy to see why Anti-Flag has listed other politically minded bands like Rage Against the Machine as their influences.

By far, the two most outstanding tracks on the album are "Vices" and "The Modern Rome Burning." "Vices" begins with an unexpected feature, which in the midst of the repetitive tracks on this album, is a welcome respite. However, the heavy piano chords that introduce the song are ended far too quickly and soon give way to a plodding and predictable chord progression by the guitarists Justin Sane and Chris Head. Despite my lack of enthusiasm for the instrumental quality in "Vices," I think the reason why I've chosen this song as one of my favorites was somewhat subconscious. I didn't realize until the second listen or so how incredibly similar the lyrics to Morrissey's "Irish Blood, English Heart" are to the words in this song. Morrissey was by no means punk, nor were The Smiths really, but both Morrissey and Anti-Flag sing about self loathing based on being born into a society that is bigoted and intolerant. The most poignant of these lyrics has to be, "Because I can barely breathe / the weight on my chest / and I'm so fucking sick of being ashamed of my own flesh." The Bright Lights of America brings up the important parallel between how the United States is currently undergoing a similar state of decline that both the British and Roman Empires experienced in the past.

"Modern Rome is Burning" attributes this rapid decline of our civilization to the overcrowding of our prison systems based not purely upon the criminality and inherent wickedness of those imprisoned, but upon the way our country ignores the ever-growing population of poverty stricken citizens: "The answers are written on the face of the oppressed." In the midst of the fifth anniversary of the Iraq war it is refreshing to hear a group speak so loudly about our domestic policy, rather than our foreign, and how the United States government treats its citizens. The outlook is a bit bleak; it's a bit of rubbish to claim "there ain't no fucking S.O.S. that's going to save our sinking ship." But then again, punk is known for its absolutes.

This new brand of "poli-punk" maintains the classic sound of The Clash, but comes off flat without the irreverent sense of humor that makes punk amazing. I'm looking forward to the future of punk and the hope that it will move from this torpid current state of relying on established instrumentals that could now easily be described in the same way that Johnny Rotten once described what he was rebelling against. The Sex Pistols were moving against music that was "increasingly safe and bloated." Hopefully, the future of punk is not stagnant. Until I'm proven wrong, I'll just stick to the classics. I miss the scornful humor of the old punk. I miss The Ramones. I miss The Sex Pistols. Nostalgia makes me hungry. I'll gladly take an anarchy burger (hold the Government) to tide me over.