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Blood Fortune

by AANTHEMS

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thewreckedneck
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thewreckedneck 'Blood Fortune' is everything I was hoping Aanthems first LP would be, and more. It's got a diamond hard edge, but still brims with the warm heartedness both Ryan and Geoff are known for. The very definition of diverse, this album offers something for everyone: hardcore sensibilities, melodic turns, and some of the most singalong-able choruses/gang chants ever. It's been a banner year for Vancouver punk, but this has easily been my most spun record since it's time of release. Favorite track: Red Hands.
PMH
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PMH Sweet album! Stoked for my vinyl copy. Raw and real. Well done 🤘
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1.
Bottom Rung 02:39
'm screaming at the top of my lungs Cause I don't wanna die unsung And I'm straining for the bottom rung And I am not the only one I'm bleeding in the place I'm from The debt I carry weighing me down And I'm breathing through a plastic straw Takes everything for me not to drown It's a rigged game, working to play Live hand to mouth and then feeling the shame Slaving all day, earning to pay Nose to the grindstone it won't go away Cashing out broke, we are all choked Living our lives with their hands 'round our throats I can't stop screaming at the top of my lungs Cause I don't wanna die unsung And I'm straining for the bottom rung And I am not the only one I'm bleeding in the place I'm from The debt I carry weighs me down I'm breathing through a plastic straw Takes everything for me not to drown No living wage, work like a slave Taking a beating, releasing the rage Rip out the page, tear up the stage It's a free country inside of this cage Nowhere to go, reap what you sow Pitchforks are coming we will overthrow Backed in a corner by my favourite things Say you can fly while they're clipping your wings The weight of this load keeps us under their thumb Standing alone we will not overcome So I keep screaming at the top of my lungs Cause I don't wanna die unsung And I'm straining for the bottom rung And I am not the only one Screaming at the top of my lungs Cause I don't wanna die
2.
Fake City 03:06
Fake city, bad smell Rotten money, can't tell Any time you're ready, we'll cut you a check But when they ask who owns ya, you'd better not forget It's gonna be a long, long, long day One knife in your back, we got a gun to your head You better have what they're after, we're gonna paint the town red It's gonna be a long, long, long day We got a bag full of dollars, not likely a gamble We take the lives of others and leave them all in shambles It's gonna be a long, long, long day Push back on the access, but it's so hard to handle Palms greased with the excess, too deep in the scandal It's gonna be a long, long, long day Money bag, casino Dirty money, got clean now Treasure chest, not essential Hide the money, in residential Buy yourself, buy yourself, buy yourself Vancouver special Fake city, bad smell Rotten money, can't tell
3.
Seen a Ghost 02:09
Sirens sing until the newspaper brings the tally of the lost to a city full of kings I've seen a ghost You've seen a ghost We've seen a ghost We know, we know, but it's no one we know So we don't So we don't So we don't We don't do a thing until the telephone rings Another body in the bag, it's the saddest fucking thing So hard to see when they're down on their knees All the bodies in the street are invisible to me And our hands Yeah our hands Yeah our hands Our hands get bloody cause we won't dirty our hands And the answers Got no answers No fucking answers So we don't do a thing until the telephone rings Another body in the bag, it's the saddest fucking thing And the weakest, how they cower now they're falling, pushing up flowers With this sunshine, and these showers This garden's growing, by the hour And we teach our kids to turn their backs and look the other way Baby kissing politicians stand there wishing they just Had a hand to shake to make it go away
4.
Pure Fire 02:17
Made a choice: practice and preach Now you're not as far as you thought you'd be right now All four walls closing in, it's stifling Theres only so much one man can do Every time I bite more than I can chew myself Lockjaw and I grind right through, it's murder Head to the city two nights a week with a thinline P in the shotgun seat, we go and scream our goddamn heads off at the shows Stay the true course but it's out of reach Gain more ground when you lie and cheat Somehow we all accept this as a given Do what they think they need to do Broken backs beneath their shoes Until they figure out that isn't living head to the city two nights a week with a thinline p in the shotgun seat, we go and scream our goddamn heads off at the shows It's pure fire Spit our guts through old mic screens Beatdown hearts and primal screams Pure fire Fill your lungs up, force it out Take your life back with every shout It's pure fire Unleash your rebel yell so every eardrum will ring in hell It's pure
5.
We've got some kids now and we'd like to get older Live with inclusion and no need for soldiers As we evolve, one race for survival Think with your brain, the triggers are primal The greater good is too small of a picture Everyone alive is your brother or sister Erase those common threads with fear and hate But we don't want that Told things that keep us divided Misled diatribes sparking a riot Buck hard like we're caught in a bear trap We could sink to the bottom but we don't want that Bad books in a battle to control And they've got the whole world in a chokehold Old rules, now it's time for a new act As we sink to the bottom but we don't want that False truth we're sold: we're better than others With not as much gold, but it's not hard to discover That these lines were drawn by men that stand to lose What they took from others, and it's more than they could ever use One nation under corporate greed Selling us things that we don't even need Steady burn, steady burning the planet They make gains now but they don't understand that Told things that keep us divided Misled diatribes sparking a riot Buck hard like we're caught in a bear trap We could sink to the bottom but we don't want that Bad books in a battle to control And they've got the whole world in a chokehold Old rules, now it's time for a new act As we sink to the bottom but we don't want that no Here is a fresh perspective untainted by directives Daily digging our own graves for bills to pay but we don't want that Told things that keep us divided Misled diatribes sparking a riot Buck hard like we're caught in a bear trap We could sink to the bottom but we don't want that Bad books in a battle to control And they've got the whole world in a chokehold Old rules, now it's time for a new act As we sink to the bottom but we don't want that We gotta break break break the hold We gotta take take take control We gotta fight before we're sold You know we all drown together but we don't want that We don't want that We don't want that, no
6.
Weight 03:46
Woke up to a brighter day Burned holes in the grimy haze Laid bare, not prepared To find so much rotting under there We pull back on the dirty sheets Exposes our diseases too A blindfold can be comforting We don't fear what we don't believe We distrust the sheep we know Wolves all dressed up in shepherds clothes We stay safe if we stay in line And forget one day our time comes too Take away this heavy toll Back to where we need to go Wake me up when we're sold We stand behind the things we say We're punching well above our weight, oh yeah We stand behind the things we do We're punching well above our weight, we do, do you? Bright flash to a darker grey To pitch black in a rapid fade Let go of what we know Shed weight with a looser grip on those We retouched our memories Can't stop re-editing them too Choices that we do not make Are voices that will guide our fate Make room for something new Break down the walls that block your view If freedom is to separate We help them conquer us, its true Take away this heavy load Back to where we need to go Wake me up when we're sold We stand behind the things we say We're punching well above our weight, oh yeah We stand behind the things we do We're punching well above our weight, we do, it's true
7.
CRISPR 02:11
Ready or not, here we come Right back where we started from How many trips around the sun Until we find out what we've done Will it be my son's daughter Or will it be his daughter's son Who gets to be the chosen one Who gets to be the chosen one Mankind: Jekyll and Hyde A rough, rough road gives a rough, rough ride Mankind: Jekyll and Hyde A rough, rough road gives a rough, rough ride My My what a wonderful thing Scientists have a new song to sing What kind of chords with they play What kind of mood will it bring, will it bring Hey CRISPR make me a sister So strong like a strongman mister Pretty so pretty like the girls in the pictures Make her immune, not just resistant Oh, and I'd be grateful If you could make her heart tough, unbreakable So smart, unmistakable Make her remarkable and remakable Mankind: Jekyll and Hyde A rough, rough road gives a rough, rough ride
8.
Sailing for the sunset Anchored by regret Calling man overboard Blindfold to forget Feels almost perfect Guts spill onto the floor Can't go home I'm never safe when I'm alone Truth not owned It strips the skin right from your bones Holding only a flashlight Against the black of midnight Shadows always after you Every day the same fight Desperate for respite Demons come crashing through Can't go home I'm never safe when I'm alone Truth not owned It strips the skin right from your bones All gone wrong Sailing for the sunset Anchored by regret Calling man overboard Blackout
9.
I got something to say, something to say to you But you can't hear me, you're talking too We're either sick or it's a trick A trick and we are falling You're brickwalling me and I'm slow walking you Now the only way to deal is to force it through To make a dent, we sell consent It's all that we can do Oh how have we forgot, of all those lessons taught How the shared minds of man, gave us all the good we got And we have got so lost, abandoned hope too often We just keep on walking until we drop into a coffin You're being sold a line, I'm being sold one too But it's not the same one, we gotta find the truth The benefits that exist, well beneath the smokescreen There is a master plan, it's not hard to see It's weight is bearing down, it's how they succeed They divide, then they sever Those who stand together Hey, I talk, talk, talk to you, but you don't hear a thing You think I'm full of shit, so you're not listening Oh how have we forgot, of all those lessons taught How the shared minds of man, gave us all the good we got And we have got so lost, abandoned hope so often We just keep on walking out I got something to say, you got ideas too There was a common ground, that we once knew I'll listen to you, you'll listen to me Thats how we'll fix this thing I'll listen to you, you'll listen to me Thats how we'll fix this thing
10.
Bad blood and I can't sleep for ages Olde tyme bad guys leap from the pages And we are living it What goes around but they just want to keep it Forced underground like a dirty little secret They keep it zipped tight Drowning in waves of the self serving lies Undertow hearts try to keep hope alive I got it if you need it It doesn't kill you it makes you get stronger Holding out but forever feels longer I'm not giving in Progress is a war won in inches Not radical but met with resistance There's no small wins Drowning in waves of the self serving lies Undertow hearts try to keep hope alive I got it if you need it Come get what you came for It only ends when we all let it die Push a little harder and we all make it rise Go on and lift it up Born every morning and we die every night Nobody backs you, alone in the fight It's all adrenaline People all suffer when money's put first Soldiers of fortune, it only gets worse So here we go again No more secrets No more lies We are the beacon Open your eyes This is so Unbelievable this We are un Unsinkable ships Progress is a war won in inches Not radical but met with resistance There's no small wins Drowning in waves of the self serving lies Undertow hearts try to keep hope alive I got it if you need it Come get what you came for
11.
Red Hands 05:00
One hand washes the other Red hands make bloody water They'll come for us again, don't worry They have their bottom line There is more money to be made Denier Paid liar Take what you can reach Closed doors make easy choices Drown out dissenting voices They'll force it through again, theres no hurry They have their vermin eyes There is more money to be made Med starver Big pharma Strangle strategy Broke system Filled prisons Feed on misery Quake driller – this is as far as you get to go Oil spiller – this is as far as you get to go Poisoned energy – this is the end, the end of the road Storm warning – this is as far as you get to go Forest burning – this is as far as you get to go Greenlight industry – this is the end, the end of the road

about

Ryan and his brother Geof and have been playing music
together since the early 90s.They grew up in a surprisingly
noise tolerant suburb of Vancouver Canada which allowed them an unreasonable amount of time for musical experimentation.
They bought and borrowed enough gear to start bands and play
shows, but after a few years their friends had moved on to
other interests. They started playing as a two piece in 97 and after
learning some pretty good tricks, rebranded to AANTHEMS in 2015.
Now here they are with their first full length and they couldn’t be happier, even though they sound really pissed off on every song. Geof is on drums and shout-sings on 2,3,7 and 9, the rest of the yelling is Ryan. He plays bass through guitar amps because he thinks it sounds cool, so thats the whole big mystery solved for you. Ryan did all the recording and mixing at their practice space and his house.
It can't be overstated how much Ryan and Geof appreciate your time and attention, this record means a lot to both of them,
and they sincerely hope you enjoy it.

Vinyl available NOVEMBER 6 through Early Onset Records

credits

released March 8, 2020

Geof - drums and howling
Ryan - bass and yelling

HUGE THANKS TO

Our wives Lindsay and Morgan for their love and support. Violet, Theoren and Harlo for being pretty cool kids. Mom and Dad for getting behind us literally from day one. Keith(RIP) and Terry for giving us a place to practice when times were tight. Seamus for consistently promoting rad shows during our city's most thankless years. Tim for inspiring us all to show up and build for ourselves the scene we knew was possible. Stu for putting us on all those banger shows at the Cobalt(RIP). Malcolm for giving us a punk rock HQ for so many years at SBC(RIP). Mike, Milton, Josh, Jon and Merek for the thousands of incredible photos, please don't stop. Justin for tirelessly filming and documenting almost every show that happens in this city. Troy for doing a last minute animation for us at the busiest time of the year. Kyle for always impressing us with his screen printing magic. Matt for entertaining our stupid ideas and becoming the best part of our release show at a moments notice. Alice, Matt, Angela and Cae for putting their hands way up when we needed help running this brand new record label.

everything by AANTHEMS except
mastering by Stu McKillop at Railtown

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AANTHEMS Vancouver, British Columbia

Geof does his level best to make his drums sound like a locomotive, and Ryan plays bass, completely wrong, while both are howling almost the whole time.
Blood and Guts, Heart and Soul, Rock'n'Roll.
EARLY ONSET RECORDS

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