Featuring several guest appearances from numerous artists, the record sees the band broadening their creative palette. Six of the 11 tracks feature guests, an approach that adds creative dexterity and moulds a dynamic sonic makeup.
The result is a mashup of grunge, punk-rock and heavy rock sensibilities that combine to make an insistent mix of bright guitar tones, thick bass lines and catchy choruses that range from the stripped-back opener “Sold Everything” to the punky “Work & Struggle”.
“The Fight Of Our Lives” – featuring Bad Religion’s Brian Baker and Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath – provides one of the record’s standout moments; pounding drums and hardcore vocals delivering a do-or-die message on climate change and express anger at government inaction.
Similarly, the nihilism of “Victory Or Death (We Gave 'Em Hell)” and “The Hazardous” – the former of which features Die Toten Hosen’s Campino, also doubles up as ferocious protest tracks which fire the album’s themes of disillusionment home.
Though musically diverse, the record is uniform in its themes and orbits around core concepts. Whether it’s the prevalence of misinformation (“Laugh. Cry. Smile. Die.”; “Only In My Head”), wealth inequality (“Work & Struggle”; “The Hazardous”) or the US’s broken healthcare system (“Modern Meta Medicine”), the album nails its political colours to the mast in true AntiFlag fashion.
Lies They Tell Our Children feels like the band making a fresh stamp on the current political turmoil, renewing their worldview and doing so with a sound they have been incrementally heading towards. Though the abundance of guests comes off as slightly claustrophobic, their presence is a testament to the album’s quality.
