Justin Sane

Life, Love, And The Pursuit of Justice (A-F)
by Scott Hefflon

Anti-Flag singer Justin Sane has listened to his fair share of Billy Bragg and decided to try his hand at stripped-down folk, just a semi-distorted guitar and his voice, occasionally doubled, but mostly served straight. While his voice sounds like a yearning 16-year old, Justin’s always been a thoughtful guy striving for a better world, both internal and external. Some may think optimism naive and cynicism trendy (you can’t win, in other words), but Justin does his thing. And while plenty will write it off as a Billy Bragg rip-off, that’s their loss. Seeing as few even attempt this, he’s bound to gain accolades for giving it the old college try. And, uh, I think most teenagers never listened to Billy Bragg, and probably a lot of twentysomethings missed out too, seeing as the crucial Back to Basics LP came out in 1987, and that was already a collection. So old journalists can scoff and snicker all they want, this kinda stuff is healthy, should be encouraged, and I give Justin credit for not pretending he invented the style. He’s more direct than Bragg, no brilliant metaphoric “milkman of human kindness” lines, but he provides lyric sheets, which woulda saved me a lot of time and arguments had Billy Bragg done the same.
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