Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 05/05/1997
Admittedly, it's strange that an old school-sounding
punk trio would criticize
punk scene denizens thusly: "Covered in leather, or plaid patches, or metal studs/Your hair is dyed or spiked with glue/You only talk to those who look and act the way you do/You scoff at how the cops treat you/But they're no worse than dicks like you!" (
"Punk by the Book"). It's even more strange in light of
Anti-Flag's
Discharge/
Rancid haircuts, a dog collar, and even a shirt that says "destroy." But since they point out that what you think is more important than how you dress, fair enough, because they carry on a more crucial custom: warning
MTV-polluted, 85-TV-channel youth that
punk means doing something productive instead of being passive or getting drunk and into fights, and becoming aware of politics and history is a prerequisite before bitching about the government (such as the Pentagon's attempts to pretend there is no Gulf War syndrome, as
Anti-Flag points out). Criticism from within is the only kind that's listened to. As well, on songs such as
"Safe Tonight" and
"Police State in the U.S.A.," Anti-Flag tosses up the kind of vintage, early-'80s, So-Cal, melodic
punk that
B.Y.O.,
Frontier,
Posh Boy, and other labels specialized in, and a
ska song is welcome.
~Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover, All Music Guide
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