The Bright Lights of America

Like the Clash and Nirvana before them, Anti-Flag are a fiercely anti-corporate band who eventually signed with a major label as a way to get their music to more people. And like The Clash and Nirvana before them, Anti-Flag refuse to stay the band they were when they were 19. Without sacrificing any of their conviction, the band brings new textures, tempos, and instrumentation into their recipe. Piano might not be deemed punk, but listen to “Vices” before you pass judgment. Meanwhile, “The Bright Lights of America” and “We Are the Lost” are anthems for the disaffected; even in their fame, the band has not lost its ability to speak for disenfranchised young people. Many of those young people are now accusing Anti-Flag of selling-out, an issue the band addresses on “Go West.” Over a mournful, surging chorus, the song urges its listener to follow an unbeaten path: “The choice is up to you / Life can lead you along on a leash / Or you can break free and run on your own.”

There's a point in "Good And Ready"—the opening track of Anti-Flag's ambitious new The Bright Lights Of America—where a disembodied xylophone begins to ping in the background. Then bells start to peal. Within a matter of seconds, a choir of little kiddies chimes in. And just as quickly, they're gone—leaving a limp,…

Anti-Flag have been explicitly political punks from their earliest days, so the political themes of their eighth album, The Bright Lights of America, are entirely to be expected.

Anti-Flag - The Bright Lights of America review: Anti-Flag still haven't grown up.