Last month, legendary punk-rockers Anti-Flag announced that their 13th studio album, Lies They Tell Our Children, will be released on January 6th, 2023 via Spinefarm Records. Pre-orders for the record can be found here.
Anti-Flag announced the record with the release of “The Fight of Our Lives,” which featured Rise Against‘s Tim Mcllarth and Bad Religion‘s Brian Baker. The band had also previously released “LAUGH. CRY. SMILE. DIE.” featuring Shane Told of Silverstein.
Today, the string of high-profile and like-minded artists to feature on their new record continues, as Anti-Flag have released a new song called “IMPERIALISM,” featuring Ashrita Kumar of Pinkshift.
Anti-Flag vocalist/guitarist Justin Sane’s father Martin Geever grew up in post-colonial Southern Ireland. When he talks about the British occupation of his homeland and its lingering negative consequences, a phrase that often repeats is: ‘Humans are just out of the cave.’
He explains, “A quick glance at imperialism the world over makes it hard to argue with this assertion, especially when one takes into account the brutality that accompanies imperialism and the ravages it leaves in its wake. Not to mention the frequency with which powerful elites justify subjugating and stealing from other people to grow their power and wealth.
This song documents the false narrative often put forward by those who wish to validate their imperialist ambitions. Special attention is given to the fact that occupiers play by a set of rules that they create, ignoring or moving the goalposts in terms of international law and human rights, including torture and murder. Special effort was also made to point out that occupiers have no interest in the needs or opinions of the occupied.
You can’t smash a city with bombs, kill and terrorize its population and burn it to the ground in order to save it. But those are the tactics and explanations of those with imperial ambitions. Actions speak louder than words, especially when there is a trail of bodies left in the wake of an occupier claiming that the violence they have perpetrated was carried out on the basis of high moral grounds.
Musically, there was something important to us about making sure the future of empathetic and benevolent punk rock was involved. One of our favorite new bands Pinkshift are that future. Ashrita had the perfect voice and energy for this song and its intention and we’re grateful for her talent and friendship. The accompanying video created by INDECLINE stands as a document of the extremely violent, destructive and terror-filled nature of war and occupation, regardless of where it takes place.”
Artwork:
Track-listing:
- “SOLD EVERYTHING”
- “MODERN META MEDICINE” (Feat. Jesse Leach of Killswitch Engage)
- “LAUGH. CRY. SMILE. DIE.” (Feat. Shane Told of Silverstein)
- “THE FIGHT OF OUR LIVES” (Feat. Tim McIlrath of Rise Against + Brian Baker of Bad Religion)
- “IMPERIALISM” (Feat. Ashrita Kumar of Pinkshift)
- “VICTORY OR DEATH (WE GAVE ‘EM HELL)” (Feat. Campino of Die Toten Hosen)
- “THE HAZARDOUS”
- “SHALLOW GRAVES” (Feat. Tré Burt)
- “WORK & STRUGGLE”
- “NVREVR” (Feat. Stacey Dee of Bad Cop/Bad Cop)
- “ONLY IN MY HEAD”
