Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Flesh Lights 2x7" on Super Secret Records


Wow, I haven't seen a double single in many a year, I might have last spotted one as part of that AC/DC tribute double single with Shellac many ages ago now, or maybe it was the Summer Burns Tyvek double single?...Either wat, Richard over at Super Secret Records has also attempted the insane endeavor that is the double 7" with Austin Texas' own Flesh Lights. I might be more shocked that there isn't another band with this perfect name, which virtually makes them damn near impossible to find online.
"Too Big to Fail" starts out with crunchy muted chords that explode into high speed pop punk that had me checking the pitch speed on the turntable. Screaming solo right into big pop backup vocal behind bassist Jeremy Steen's maniac delivery, these guys waste no time in landing right on power punk. Caveman chorus of oooo's between Jeremy's lyric, this three piece is making one hell of a dense, clean sound. Max on guitar can't help himself, taking every free moment to blast through another solo, while the whole track keeps plowing faster and faster with the rest of the band joining in on the title lyric. They've pushed this one to the limit, threw in the kitchen sink and collapsed. Insane.
B-Side's "Flashback to the Majestic" has some freak out, delayed weirdo guitar to psych this into their rolling beat and bass. An acoustic even works into this more garage-y sounding jam and Jeremy's got a little bit of fuzz on the doubled up vocal, coming off with a poppier hillbilly sound this time. Working this glammy melody along, Max shreds incessantly to a hard drop out. Eventually by the time it hits that chorus lyric at the end here they've gone down south for a dose of heavy '70s ROCK that flips this whole thing into Thin Lizzy territory.
C-Side's "No No No" has Jeremy shrieking under a big time echo over Max's treble heavy thick distortion. They keep switching between tight punk bursts and a loose heavy rock sound, a little bit of Cheap Time polish, and Oblivians blues. Sounds like this is a stalker situation, "I've got you thinking / that I am the man / You've got me running / as fast as I can / I never want / to see you again"
"Lens" on the D-Side is their demented take on being on the other side of that obsession, reminding me of the gems that Natural Child or Personal and the Pizzas can get away with. These guys have that same punk garage spirit of being complete loveable offensive goofballs talking about "...if I were you I'd take pictures of myself all day". This one wanders off track into funkytown for a second just to blast back up into "YOU'RE A LENS!". Everyone of these is a hit, and it's an obvious choice to get even more tracks out there and go for the two for one. An impressive folder sleeve, for a hell of a record.

Get one of three hundred from Super Secret Records, on green or black, two times the polished trash punk from Super Secret Records.



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