Exclusive: Watch the new video from the upcoming album by Pittsburgh political punks Anti-Flag.
In Trump's America, a band like Anti-Flag is more important than ever. For over two decades now, the Pittsburgh-based political punk quartet have made it their business to call out the bastards who consider themselves the princes of the world. But not even they could've foreseen the insanity that is the modern day, with developments like the Trump administration and Brexit igniting new levels of nationalism and prejudice across the world. Maybe that's why the news that Anti-Flag will release their new studio album 20/20 Vision this January is especially exciting -- if there was ever a time to blast an Anti-Flag album, it's now.
The band's new video for Hate Conquers All doesn't beat around the bush -- it's an anthem from the get-go, with a sample of Donald Trump calling for protesters to be beaten leading into the track's booming chorus. The steady rhythm and gigantic scream-along lyrics that run throughout the song will keep listeners rapt, while the footage shows the band playing on a rooftop, surrounded by a world so busy with its jingoism and narrow-minded view that it can't see its own collapse. It's a killer track, played by a band who knows how to deliver a fist-raising battle cry.
About the track, bassist vocalist Chris #2 says, "Love Trumps Hate. On the surface, this well-packaged, well-meaning sentiment does what it needs to...In the face of so much fear, inequality and despair, it provides hope. Hope that the path that we’re on isn’t an endless one, but one that can be defeated. And honestly I believe in the premise. That if you put love and positivity out into the universe it does combat negativity and it does come back or return, not always to us directly, but to someone.
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"But the policies of Donald Trump and his administration are not just hateful," he continues. "They’re racist, islamophobic, homophobic, transphobic, and bigoted. It is a false equivalency. The language exists for a reason. Our focus should not only be on their hatred, but their outward and unabashed fascism. We shouldn’t just try to kill these things with love and kindness. We should be in the streets daily, demanding an end to racial, social, and economic injustice. The video for 'Hate Conquers All' is a visual experience of what a continuation of Trump policy and rhetoric holds. Climate devastation, racist/xenophobic immigration law and endless conflicts of interest serving his businesses and their partners. Watch the empire fall. Watch the nation dissolve. With our backs against the wall.”
Watch our exclusive premiere of Hate Conquers All below:
Anti-Flag's 20/20 Vision comes out January 17 via Spinefarm Records, and is available for preorder.
Make sure to raise your fists and yell at one of Anti-Flag's upcoming live shows in the U.S., the UK, and Europe listed below:
October
31 New York, NY @ Mercury Lounge
November
08 Los Angeles, CA @ House Of Machines
December
20 Chicago, IL @ Reggies
January
08 Lisboa, PT @ RCA Club
09 Madrid, ES @ Caracol
10 Vitoria, ES @ Kubik
11 Zaragoza, ES @ Sala López
12 Barcelona, ES @ Estraperlo
14 Milano, IT @ HT Factory
16 Zurich, CH @ Dynamo
17 Graz, AT @ PPC
18 Vienna, AT @ Flex
19 Prague, CZ @ Roxy
21 Berlin, DE @ SO36
22 Munich, DE @ Backstage Werk
23 Nuremberg, DE @ Löwensaal
24 Chemnitz, DE @ Talschock
26 Warsaw, PL @ Proxima
28 Hamburg, DE @ Fabrik
29 Köln, DE @ Essigfabrik
30 Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat
February
02 Brighton, UK @ Chalk
04 London, UK @ O2 Academy Islington
05 Manchester, UK @ Club Academy
06 Birmingham, UK @ The Mill
07 Glasgow, UK @ The Garage
March
12 - Montreal, QC @ L'Astral%
13 - Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground*
15 - Boston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall%
17 - Asbury Park, NJ @ House of Independents%
18 - Hamden, CT @ Space Ballroom*
19 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Foundry%
20 - College Park, MD @ MilkBoy ArtHouse*
22 - Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade @ Purgatory%
24 - Nashville, TN @ Exit/In*
26 - Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop%
27 - Buffalo, NY @ Rec Room*
28 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Roxian Theatre*
May
03 - Columbus, OH @ A&R Bar^
05 - Toronto, ON @ Velvet Underground^
06 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Pyramid Scheme^
08 - St. Paul, MN @ Amsterdam Bar and Hall^
10 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theatre^
12 - Dallas, TX @ Dada^
13 - Austin, TX @ Barracuda^
14 - El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace^
20 - Oakland, CA @ New Parish^
21 - Santa Cruz, CA @ The Atrium at The Catalyst^
27 - Sacramento, CA @ Holy Diver^
28 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre^
29 - Vancouver, BC @ Wise Hall^
30 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile^
* w/ Grade 2 and Doll Skin
% w/ Grade 2
^ w/ Bad Cop/Bad Cop and Grumpster
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