Considering the results of the last presidential election and its attendant fallout, the times are ripe for a revitalization of punk’s insurrectionist spirit. You’d think there’d be a homegrown Clash or Dead Kennedys in every garage right now, screaming for a counterrevolution against this right-wing administration. With the young seemingly more disgusted with business-as-usual partisan politics than ever, there’s surprisingly little new rock ‘n’ roll dissent out there. Were the youth waiting for Anti-Flag to speak up? If so, they have a fine flag to rally ’round: 11 sticks of rhetorical dynamite lobbed at the New Trump Order. Singer Justin Sane nails it in the second verse of stop/start chugger “American Attraction”: ”The clock tick-tick-tick-ticking down to a disaster/Your insecurity is all they’re gunning after.” The rejection rocks throughout, skillfully updating the Clash/Stiff Little Fingers blueprint within ’90s pop/punk production. While not on par with the best from those two bands, American Fall is still potent.
—Tim Stegall
