The Flatliners New Ruin CD
OK. Full disclosure, I spent years actively avoiding this band. Like I’m talking about not listening to any of their records, hanging out at the bar or outside smoking if they were playing a show I was at, etc., all under the assumption that somewhere I had heard they were a ska punk band. Ha ha ha. What an asshole. Guess I learned my lesson, because that couldn’t be any further from the truth, on this offering at least. Instead, what we have is something similar to singer Chris Crestwell’s other band, HOT WATER MUSIC, at least in some of the ways the backups are presented and some of the melodies. I have been listening to this like every other day. It’s really good, surprisingly so. The one thing that did take a bit of getting used to for me right off the bat though was Crestwell’s vocals. Upon the first few listens, I couldn’t shake the idea that they sounded like a mixture of Chris Wollard, Geddy Lee, and the dude from MATCHBOX 20. It bugged me for a bit, but I actually dig his voice. I find myself enjoying this more and more upon each listen. Maybe next time they’re in town I’ll actually make a point of watching them!