Pittsburgh-based anarcho-punks Anti-Flag have been expertly balancing a fierce leftist political agenda with a strong commercial acumen since their inception in the late-1980s. With a sound rooted in the fiery pop-punk of Stiff Little Fingers, the Clash, and other graduates of England's Class of '77, Anti-Flag bring a retro/purist element to the Warped Tour mentality of the '90s/2000s punk community. The politically active group was criticized for their decision to jump to a major label for 2006's BLOOD FOR EMPIRE, yet the band was seemingly able to avoid making any concessions artistically or ideologically (the album is ferociously anti-Bush administration) in the move, thus enabling their message to reach its largest audience yet.