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ManLiftingBanner – The Revolution Continues

ManLiftingBanner – The Revolution Continues

Some bands become a myth overtime. And most often reunions shatter myths as hard as a soviet missile on American soil. But even more destructive are bands that come back and do new songs. Examples aplenty of bands with a certain status coming back after years, attempting to honor their legacy but failing and reducing themselves to the laughing stock of the scene.

ManLiftingBanner is one of the few real ‘classic’ Dutch hardcore bands, so while a lot of people were thrilled to finally have their whole discography on vinyl, the fact that the band were also doing new songs was something one could debate. Maybe the difference between most bands and ManLiftingBanner to come back is inspiration. The Revolution Continues oozes a certain urgency for change, a need for revolution to go on, a will for man to get free from slavery.

In a recent interview Russ Rankin of Good Riddance revisits his lyrics and notices that in twenty years they still uphold today:

We were getting ready for a rehearsal recently and I was revisiting these songs – most of which I haven’t listened to in five years – and one of the most depressing things was how true so many of these lyrics still are. Like, I could show somebody the lyric sheet and they’d be like, “Oh, you’re talking about this that’s happening right now.” It was depressing because there was a split second when I felt like sort of a visionary, but then I realized I wrote these songs 16 years ago and nothing’s changed – in some cases, things have gotten worse.

The same can be said about ManLiftingBanner. It’s pretty sad to see how much of the topics they touched upon in 1990 are pretty much still around or became even worse in 2012.

But let’s not only focus on the past. The Revolution Continues does feature eight new blistering songs like ‘ Wall Street Wars’.

and ‘Good Bless The Poor’.

The band isn’t only inspired by the Occupy-movement but also takes inspiration from the revolutions in Tunesia and Egypt, which is where ‘Song for Khaled Said’ comes from.

Next to the eight new songs and the classics like ‘Still Straight’, ‘Sister’ and ‘Empire’ the whole package that is The Revolution Continues must be mentioned as well. The cover, included poster and thick booklet features recent pictures of the uprising in the Middle-East and in the West, slogans from known and lesser known revolutionaries and lyrics to all the songs as well as an explanation as to why ManLiftingBanner is back.

The Revolution Continues is by no means the product of a band out of touch and out of place in today’s scene. It’s quite the opposite, it’s a precise strike on all the uninspired, hardcore is just a form of musical entertainment, bands getting on stage everyday. It’s hopefully a revitilizing breath of air into a community that has been looking inwards for too long and should get ‘the kids’ out there once again to reclaim their position as a movement for real change. The revolution continues and ManLiftingBanner will lead the way.

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