Anti-Flag
“20 20 Vision”
Spinefarm Records
Released : January 17, 2020
From the release of their debut record, Anti-Flag have gradually grown more and more towards Pop-Punk. With this release, they finally reach a pinnacle where the pop heavily outweighs the punk.
Politics have long been a hot topic for Punk groups to smite with venom, calling for change and public awareness. Lets face it, there have been a whole slew of smug politician’s to take aim at, and ol’ Donnie Trump fits the bill.
The world is in a shambles. Nothing new there. If anything, society is heading for a head-on collision with a very large brick wall. Yes, we need change all round. This isn’t the record that’s going to do that, though.
Reagan, Maggie Thatcher, Senior and Dubya Bush have all merited Punk aggression, so should Trump, but if you’re not going to throw the kitchen sink into your music, its not going to work. You can’t make dancy pop music about what a dick Trump is. It’s laughable. Picking on Trump is too easy. We get it. The whole world gets it. The guy is a knob. In the past, picking on political leaders was edgy, because those people weren’t as vehemently detested the way Trump is. By some, sure. But not by all. What’s next, an album about what a meanie Hitler was?
Despite that, the opening track is the better effort on the album, with a pair of Trump comments thrown in. Every time Donald opens his yap, he makes a comment that could make its way onto a Punk record. He is an endless source of material, and that’s before we even consider his unbelievable twitter posts.
See also : Raised Fist “Anthems” Review
Fine. Fair play to Anti-Flag on that. But can we have some new and fresh lyrics the rest of the way, please? The same old rehashed drivel just isn’t interesting anymore. Its annoying. We get it. White man bad. America bad.
Then, just when you start to think Anti-Flag are trying to appeal to Green Day’s fans with 20/20 Vision, comes a pop-country track. Well then. Different I suppose, but who is your target audience here? Young teenagers who want to have an opinion on the state of global affairs without knowing much about the topic yet. Gullible minds?
Throw in a wind section for the next track and this hot mess really starts to disintegrate.
But the time the final track plays, I swore I would violently chuck my stereo system across the room if I hear the words “neo-fascism” one more time. Throwing around terms like that, doesn’t make you look more apolitical. Or more like a social justice warrior. You look like a spoiled brat spitting the word of the day. Singing crud like “Summer squatter go home” while wearing perfectly quaffed hair was bad enough. Thankfully the album ended before I had to destroy the machine that brings me so much joy.
Instead, I vowed not to play this record again. Pre-orders can be made through the Spinefarm Records online shop.
For fans of : Green Day, Halsey, Miley Cyrus
Track listing :
01. Hate Conquers All
02. It Went Off Like A Bomb
03. 20/20 Vision
04. Christian Nationalist
05. Don’t Let The Bastards Get You Down
06. Unbreakable
07. The Disease
08. A Nation Sleeps
09. You Make Me Sick
10. Un-American
11. Resistance Frequencies
Pros & Cons
- Positive messages
- Phony
- Tries too hard
- Irritating
