I know: major label sell-outs, boo hoo, and all that jazz. But based on their track record and the fact that the LP came out on their own label, I’m gonna review it anyway. First of all, this twelve inch rules big time. Their sound and politics have not been compromised or diluted. Even the late great John Candy’s son shows up to add some horns to the mix, and it works out beautifully. I hope this band can keep a firm grip on their ideals as well as continue to grow and mature from this point on. That would be a great thing to see. The songs “One Trillion Dollars”—that sounds like it could have started out as a Justin Sane acoustic solo song—”Hymn for the Dead,” and “Cities Burn” are the highlights with the best set of lyrics being: “One trillion dollars could buy a lot of bling... One trillion dollars buying all the nations of the world, one trillion dollars could make the fat lady sing, one trillion dollars what a bullshit useless thing!” Now, do I agree with their move to RCA? Does my opinion or your opinion even matter? No, not really. But one thing is for sure: in terms of mainstream get-you-to-think music, this LP beats the shit out of anything lyrically or musically ever put out by vague alternative rockers Rage Against The Machine. So raspberry from me to you! And if you’re really that much of an anti-capitalist, whiny punk you should refrain from buying the CD (because you were going to take the CD and upload the album to your ipod) and be a real punk rocker and buy it from a truly independent label on fine picture disc vinyl for your record player—hell the twelve inch even has one extra song than the CD. That said, this album has me wanting three things from the future. A) Anti-Flag to continue to do what they do best: whatever the hell they want. B) A-F to get tons of money for their non-profit goals as well as to grace the public with what we’ve been patiently waiting for: A NEW INTRO5PECT CD! and C) I hope and pray Against Me!’s major label debut next year will be a pleasant surprise by impressing me the same way this release has.
–mrz (A-F)