In-Store Session: Discontent rarely sounds so good

Anti-Flag - The Bright Lights Of America
Posted by Scott Heisel on 05-Jun-08 @ 01:57 PM

[4/5]
First, they signed to a major label--a big no-no for many rebellion-culture purists within the punk-listening public. Now, Anti-Flag present what might be called their "artistic growth" record, complete with compulsory famous big-rock producer--in this case, Tony Visconti (David Bowie, Thin Lizzy, Morrissey). While a number of new sounds and ideas--timpani, disco beats, some brass and a glockenspiel for example--do emerge (tastefully) on The Bright Lights Of America, the remarkably controlled expansion of the band's punchy, melodic sound remains fully faithful to their established catalog. Anti-Flag are clearly a band evolving in terms of songwriting and arrangement, but 1) they're not leaving their fans (or continuity) behind in the process, and 2) the final musical product is actually awesome, not disappointing. The band's often bright, always urgent anthems simply seem more textured, full and mature. Treading new ground in the lyrics department as well, Anti-Flag finally make a more substantial connection between the personal and the global, an element often lacking in so-called "political" bands. If ever this band seemed too flossy to be legitimate in all of their discontent, Bright Lights is a super-serious record that demonstrates some super-serious song craft. In fact, this release drips with sincerity. Score one for the punks, and for Anti-Flag. (RCA/A-F) Ronen Kauffman

ROCKS LIKE:
Anti-Flag's For Blood And Empire
Strike Anywhere's Exit English
Worthless United's A Nation Under

IN-STORE SESSON WITH ANTI-FLAG VOCALIST/GUITARIST JUSTIN SANE

Describe some of the new ground covered on this record.
More than ever, I tried to write music that reflected the lyrics. "Go West" is a song about the pushing and pulling of life, so there's a lot of starts and stops in the song. In "We Are The Lost," the verse is stripped down and the chorus is really big--on the verses, I wanted to get across a feeling of loneliness and isolation, and in the chorus, I wanted to illustrate that in numbers, people can overcome that loneliness and isolation. We also used a lot of orchestral percussion. We experimented with some things on our last record, but most of it didn't get used because the execution wasn't there. Having never worked with those kinds of instruments before, it just didn't feel right. We wanted someone with experience and knowledge who could help us make it sound right. That was one of the main reasons we were interested in working with Tony Visconti.

There's a distinctly more personal feeling there, too, which relates at least partially to the death of bassist Chris #2's sister. How does this blend with the political spirit of the band?
The death of #2's sister had a tremendous impact on us. A lot of people really opened up to us and shared their stories, and we could see that within this community around the band there was an opportunity--and, we felt, a need--for people to be able to share what was going on in their lives. People wanted to connect. We were certainly in a place where we could write about those things, and hopefully by doing that let people know that they weren't alone. There are certainly politics in the record, but many things are told from a more personal place. The Bright Lights Of America asks the question: What is it about our society that leads a girl to be a cutter or make a kid have to get fucked up all the time to be able to deal with life? Those are real stories from people I know. Instead of getting into a deep, social-political thesis, these songs are just more from the heart. I think that makes it the best stuff that we've written.

Does Anti-Flag endorse any presidential candidate?
One thing we've learned form George Bush is that many people say it doesn't matter who the president is, and it doesn't matter if you vote or not. I'm not excited by Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton, but that said, I will [eventually] endorse one of them because either is going to be better than John McCain. -Ronen Kauffman


Official Website: http://www.rcarecords.com




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