The General Strike

これまでに全世界でアルバム累計70万枚以上を売上げ、パンク・シーンにて絶大な人気と確固たる地位を確立しているANTI-FLAG。積極的なツアーで世界中のファンを熱狂させ、これまでFat Wreck Chordsやメジャー・レーベル、そして自身の主催するA-F Recordsからのコンスタントなリリースでも知られる彼ら。メジャーのRCAを離れ新天地Side One Dummyからリリースされた前作7th『The People or the Gun』（09年）では揺るぎないアグレッシヴ・サウンドを見せつけ、シーンのトップに君臨する王者の風格を絶対的なものとした。そして今回2年半ぶりとなる通算8作目のフルアルバムをリリース！自身のスタジオにてセルフ・プロデュースでレコーディングされた本作は、バンド史上最もパワフルかつタイトなサウンドながら、最もメロディアスな仕上がりとなっている。根底に流れる強固なメッセージ性は変わらず、さらに多くのファンを獲得するであろう彼らの最高傑作！

Perennial rabble-rousers Anti-Flag come back to throw sand in the face of the establishment on their ninth studio album, The General Strike. Combining blunt, no-nonsense political ideals with driving punk rock into an anti-establishment steamroller, the album finds Anti-Flag once again sticking with the direct approach as they comment on the Occupy Wall Street movement and the ever widening gap in America's class system. While lyrics like "They're sleeping between satin sheets while huddled masses sleep in the streets/Tucked in at night they lay and dream of Corporate State Theocracy," from "Nothing Recedes Like Progress," don't allow much in the way of misinterpretation, they do root a lot of the songs in a very specific time and place. This kind of timeliness gives The General Strike the feeling that, though inspiring in its day, it doesn't have that special something that makes a song like the Clash's "Know Your Rights" an enduring anthem for the oppressed and disenfranchised. Despite this, it's still worth pointing out that at least Anti-Flag are standing up to say something at all, and every movement needs its fight songs to keep people going in the face of adversity. For all the people camping out in the cold, The General Strike definitely has enough fire to keep you warm. ~ Gregory Heaney