The People or the Gun

Pittsburgh’s Anti-Flag were born with a plastic spoon in their mouth and a sense that all injustice can be shouted down through the fury of punk rock guitar chords and relentless vocal attacks. With the ghosts of U.K. Subs, the Buzzcocks and literally hundreds, if not thousands, of punk bands before them looming, Anti-Flag inject a fresh, feral velocity to the teen angst and adult upset that the have-nots feel towards an ever greedy world. “The Gre(A)t Depression,” the minute-long “You Are Fired (Take This Job),” “The Economy Is Suffering…Let It Die” puts their people-first politics on the table with a tough gnarly snag. But it’s the anthemic chug of “We Are the One,” with its siren-wailing guitars and unison vocals, that delivers the spine-chilling solidarity the best punk rock provides. It’s a tad ironic to describe a punk band as upholding a “tradition” but Anti-Flag do easily slot in as dedicated followers of punk tradition, delivering hooks and rage with no sense of surrender.