cdreviews arcade Anti-Flag is anti-good Mr.Beast Anti-Flag Project for a New American Century;" For Blood and Empire "A Global Pax Americana/ Neo-con, nee-fascist blue print - USA hegemony/ Charlatan war hawks, ** {:;r i:.? i:.? tells a story RCA Records untried, untrue/ Celebrate and exploit tragedy/ To Punk steal away control." Mogwai Good thing Anti-Flag is around to warn us that Mr. Beast Alex McGaughan our "Charlatan war hawks" might break down, arcade reviews ed110r and that the fascists have the blue prints. I don't *****Matador think the American government has much to worry Post-rock Anti Flag's new album, For Blood and Empire, about if all radicals think as clearly as Anti-Flag is the seventh installment in their utterly boring speaks. Alex McGaughan political campaign against America. Disregard- arcade reviews editor ing any opinion of their politics, the album is very Bottom line: Buy this a/hum if you 're lnoking for middle-of-the-road. something to play while you draw circles around all the Mr. Beast, Mogwai's fifth studio album, is easily Many of the tracks on this album are toe-tap- A's in your homework, or at the skate park. their most accessible. Featuring pounding, compelling ping, head-bobbing, mash-pitting punk - the beats and everything from shredding guitar to melodic kind that hit a brick wall a few years ago and keyboards, this album takes you on an interesting ride. hasn't come up with anything really excit- For Mogwai's fans, this will be a return to the early ing since. On the first listen, one could swear days of Young Team, a reminder that the band still isn't they'd heard the songs before, probably in a afraid to rock out hard, diamond hard. Tony Hawk video game. They have quick, They start the album in typical Mogwai fashion with playful bass lines, energetic drums and cute "Auto Rock," a track that ever so slowly, almost imper- little vocal harmonies to sing along with. The ceptibly, builds tension and crescendos to a completely sound of the individual tracks can be broken unresolved fizzle, leaving the audience stunned and con- down into two main categories: fast songs and fused. It's not to last, though, for seconds later "Glasgow slow songs. Neither category is better than the Mega Snake" starts, and the listener will be too busy other, nor is either unexpected in your typi- rocking to think of songs past. One can almost see the cal punk album - this album could be one of giant metal snake tunneling through the soft Scottish thousands if it weren't for the lyrics. soil only to explode from its subterranean dwelling in True to form, Anti-Flag churned out a con- a shower of dirt, a gleam of chrome and gnashing of fused mess of war cries, mourns. political giant, razor-sharp robot teeth. One barely notices the lack of vocals in this Goth-tinged, almost orchestral jargon and power chords. The lyrics, to some, feeling anthem, and they're certainly not missed. arc particularly confounding; one might think There is not one bad track on the album, but one does this is a farce of political punk hands. In "The cc 1t1 R1J'\ , 11 R< 1 RIC<>RI>'- sit above all others. "Friend of the Night" is an absolutely incredible song, at once gentle and urgent, melodic and driving, a love song and a tragedy. If there were ever a song to die to (excuse the macabre example), this would be it. Even though "Friend of the Night" is an incredible track, it's important to think of this album as a whole. The Scottish rockers are masters of controlling tension and release. They will take you where they want you to go, inducing claustrophobia at times, or simulating epiphany. This is a soundtrack, but not to a movie. It is the soundtrack to an imagined drama, condensing eons of beauty and woe into 43 minutes of music. Each track on the album serves a purpose and flows into the next with such ease that a casual listener might not even notice the transitions. While it is obvious that some songs are more pronounced and make you sit up and take notice, other tracks are just as important, as they give the listener time to digest, or recover from, the last track and prepare for the next. This is the kind of album that you can get lost in so deeply that you might forget things like moving and thinking. Fans will recall when "Like Herod" rocked them in 1997, and newcomers will be left slack-jawed and wide-eyed, amazed at how clear life seems now.

Bottom Line: Go buy this album. If, after listening to it, you are not.filled with something like marshmal- lows and child-like wonder; you will be rendered sterile, because you might as well be already. 04.28.06 13