Politics and music have long gone hand-in-hand. Unfortunately, political flagwavers have sometimes come and gone with the rapidity of their beliefs. Those who tried using politics as a rallying [read ‘selling’] point for an audience rather than offering a committed, solid belief, most rightly, didn’t last. But there are many more who have proved their belief and commitment is as strong as their word. The 1960s had a plethora of acts committed to change, and in the mid- to late 1970s there was a bundle of genuinely political punk acts, but in recent times that kind of solidarity is harder to find: Pearl Jam, Rage Against The Machine, Pennywise, Billy Bragg, Henry Rollins, the old boy Neil Young, leap immediately to mind. Age after all does engender wisdom. So when a young band burns bright with an apparent commitment to change, to being outspoken – but sensibly so, to put its actions where its mouth is and raising funds for actions, then it’s time to pay attention.

Pittsburgh’s Anti-Flag may be young punks but they have old heads and they’ve been through some horrendous personal circumstances. Bassist Chris 2#’s sister and her boyfriend were murdered. Vices, the third track on the band’s new album, Bright Lights Of America, deals with that.

Lead singer, Justin Sane, is in Austin, Texas, on the end of a mobile which fades in and out and breaks up with regularity.

“The loss of Chris’ sister was huge, so big, it’s hard to explain the impact,” he says, “but the first thing we tried to do was make a positive out of it. We put together a benefit EP to help other people going through similar situations and to say we understand.” The proceeds went to The Center For The Victims Of Violence And Crime (a local Pittsburgh organisation that helps and supports victims and families who are dealing with the effects of violent crime.

Similar emotions are also expressed on the album’s title track. Sane explains, “At our shows kids were coming up to us and wanted to show their togetherness with the band by sharing their stories. As a result of that we could see that there was a need for a record that offers hope, even in the face of so much darkness. It talks about a lot of subjects that are very dark.

“Bright Lights Of America is written about two of those kids I met on tour, one of whom cut her arms up, and the other who came from a very bad home situation and had fallen into drugs.” The album biography, written by the band says, “The song is a reflection of the [afore-mentioned shared] stories … As Americans who are we?”
That question will, to a degree, be answered this year when the US elects a new president. In what many observers say is the most important US Presidential election in decades, the Republican nomination, a 71-year-old Vietnam War veteran and prisoner of war, John McCain, has already been decided while Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton still fight for the Democrat nomination. Will George Bush’s Republicans be toppled?
For a band as active as Anti-Flag, it’s a vital question. They have already worked with Amnesty International, World Can’t Wait, Code Pink, Music For America, the African Well fund, Student Peace Action, PETA, Planned Parenthood and more. They are strong advocates for animal rights, one payer universal healthcare, prison reform and freedom for political prisoners. Anti-Flag has also started two charities out of their own pocket, the most notable being www.militaryfreezone.org, the goal of which is make people aware of the sometimes aggressive tactics of military recruitment in high schools and universities, which increased because of a little known provision in the No Child Left Behind Act. This provision grants the military access to the private records of students across the country – without their knowledge.

“If George Bush has proved anything it’s that it does matter who is the President of the United States. Some of our friends have said to us that it doesn’t. To answer that, I would point to all the Iraqis and US troops who are dead and to all the families left behind. So, as far as the election goes, I think Clinton and Obama are better than McCain - they aren’t perfect but McCain is just an extension of Bush.

“It would be a disaster for the US and the world if McCain was elected. That said, I think it’s going to be tough for either Obama or Clinton to win. It’s going to be a big change if either wins – America’s first black president or woman president. You have to understand that the US is very resistant to change. Hopefully, people will be open-minded enough to overcome that ingrained conservatism.

“It is going to be very close. I’m going to endorse either Clinton or Obama. I think, at this stage, that Obama has a little more integrity and his policies are a little more forward thinking. He was asked why he doesn’t wear an American flag on his lapel and he replied it was false patriotism and there is so much jingoism and false patriotism in the US and that allowed Bush to lead America to war. Hilary, on the other hand, introduced legislation to make it illegal to burn the flag.

“The reality is that it will be the most important election the US will ever face. If the US continues down the road to militarism that McCain would take, it would be a grave mistake.”

Whether you side with their political stances or not doesn’t matter. When Anti-Flag sing about smart bombs, sanitized weapons, the shadow of the dead, and ask questions not only of society and leaders but of individuals, they are very least pricking the conscience of a worldwide audience. And that matters.