Flickerstick
Welcoming Home the Astronauts
Epic
Flickerstick is like the band you’ve heard a million times and have never known who they are. Self proclaimed bad boys of rock n’ roll, they get flack for airplay on pop driven stations, even after working with Tom Lord Algae who helped put an extra edge on Weezer, Blink -182, and Marilyn Manson (now that’d be a strange party guest list). They say that while their CD is the mellow side of rock, their live show pulls out all the stops. The first single from Welcoming Home the Astronauts, “Beautiful,” is actually one of the weaker songs. It’s sweetly written and more “rock” executed, but tunes like “LIFT (with love we will survive),” “Got A Feeling,” “Coke,” and “Direct Line to the Telepathic” are much more well received. If Radiohead is “college rock,” Flickerstick is “high school rock” – the soundtrack to finals, cliques, prom, and letter jackets. They sound so much like Eve 6 it’s almost scary, and while they are indeed a hard working, passionate group (see the 16 episodes of the VH-1 series Bands on the Run, starring Flickerstick as the booze hounds they are) their movement against their lighter side might eventually push away their fans. People like that Eve 6 sound: the sweet lyrics about young life, love, and the occasional sex act. Flickerstick seems to have identity issues that cloud their voice, and even though it’s perfectly fine to have a great mix of pop and rock on the same disc and in your playlist, they should stick with one identity and build from that. Welcoming Home the Astronauts is fun, meaningful, and great if you’re an Eve 6 fan. Also, just an image complaint, if you’re singing about being an honest boyfriend, you are so not the bad boy of rock n’ roll.
Epic Records: http://www.epicrecords.com
