$ELL OUT$!!

The punk-rock world was shaken to it's safety pinned core earlier this week when it was discovered that one of our own had signed to a MAJOR LABEL!

This isn't the first time that the hit-machine found one of our little gems, and it wont be the last time one of our formerly snot-nosed minstrels traded in the promise of a better tomorrow for the promise of a better bank account...

But the cries of sell out could be heard from Gilman Street all the way to the Bowery! And this wasn't just the normal knee-jerk reactionaries - sure they were there too, but this time people were able to QUOTE the very band in their cries of tyranny!

can a band sing...

"underground network, alternative communication... corporate media can't keep us beat down, brainwashed, enslaved... 'cause of our... underground network - alternative communication...

just take a look around the world and you're going to find that nearly all mass media are owned and controlled by a handful of conservative capitalists.

we must devise and implement alternative methods of distributing our news, our information, our ideas -- people worldwide working together to make a stand, to tell the truth!"

...and then take arms fulls of cash from RCA without selling-out?

I think it's too early to say, but the boys of Anti-Flag (the band presently under fire) are about to find out. If the new CD is a collection of ballads about how hard it is to be in love with the girl from math class, then yes, we have a problem. But if its the same barrage of complaints about the greed of the corrupt, the dangers of shadow governments and other obscure evils that they themselves acknowledge aren't usually pointed out on your local news, then we might not have a case of selling out as much as we have an opportunity to cash in... and to that I say, why not?

Being in a band beats working at a 'real job' harder than Ike hit Tina, and no sane person will argue with that... But, being almost 30 years old and still living in your parents basement because you didn't make enough on the last tour to pay rent on an apartment you weren't using isn't exactly the American Dream.

Anti-Flag have been touring the country and the world trying to get their message out in one shitty conversion van after the next for the better part of 10 years! Why the hell would they NOT want to get a little extra money if it is being offered to them for DOING the SAME THING THEY'VE BEEN DOING!?

Will they ever have a bonafide "hit song"? I doubt it...

Will they sell enough records to sustain their RCA contracts? Probably not...

Will they be dropped shortly after this deal expires? Almost assuredly...

But, if they make smart decisions, will they be able to have a place to live, a car that doesn't break-down at the threat of rain, and some semblance of a normal life as a result of this? I'd like to think so...

Will this alienate a good chunk of their fan-base? Probably... But who's really at fault for that?

People have and will continue to cry about integrity, but who isn't living up to their end of the bargain here? Is it the band, who are trying to provide for themselves or is it the fans who wanted to view four musicians as an unshakable institution? Let's be honest here - people like the image of a struggling artist. People like the image of an underdog. People like the image of whatever image they have come up with for you. I think that anyone who's disappointed at a turn of events like this needs to realize that the people they look up to are just that: PEOPLE like you and me... To expect them to be anything else is selfish and unrealistic...

Does anyone cry sell-out if you try to get a raise from Slappy's Soup Shack? Does anyone cry sell-out if you decide that Slappy's doesn't pay enough and that you are instead gonna sling soup for Sammy's Soup Sentral? Then why trash these guys for doing the same thing that you and I do?

I say "good for you Anti-Flag! And, also, that i am a little short this month on my car payment, so if maybe I could hold a few dollars, I'm sure you can afford it now..."