Flickerstick - Welcoming Home The Astronauts


Year of Release: 2000
Label: 226 Records
Catalog Number: 22601
Format: CD
Total Time: 53:07:00

I'm a sucker for shows and movies that go behind the scenes in the music industry. For that reason, that I would get hooked on the new VH1 show "Bands On The Run" -- a reality show on which four unsigned bands tour together in a competition to see who can make the most money from their promotions and shows -- was a given. As fascinating as I think the show is (in a guilty pleasure sort of way), only one band caught my eye, a group of musicians called Flickerstick, who spend as much time drunk, fighting, and scoring with girls as they do playing music. But it isn't their on-going drama that keeps me coming back for more. It's the music. When these guys get their heads on straight, they smoke the house with a brand of modern rock that is an irresistible combination of power pop, Radiohead, and Pink Floyd.

No, these guys don't play progressive rock, but I have a feeling that they're one of those bands that some prog people may go for. Sure, songs like "Talk Show Host," "Chloroform the One You Love," and "Coke" are as radio-ready as tunes get. (Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with straight power pop. Sometimes you just gotta let your hair down, you know? Get sweaty, dude!) Songs like "Lift," "Beautiful," and the marvelous, nine-minute "Direct Line to the Telepathic," however, have a definite Radiohead feel with a dash of Pink Floyd. All put together, this makes for an interesting, yet accessible, music that should appeal to prog fans whose shirts aren't stuffed too tight.

As for the VH1 competition, Flickerstick positively murders the other groups during the "battle of the bands" segment of the show (a feat for which they are given temporary immunity from tour dismissal). Their talent is so obvious, one has to wonder how the other bands have the nerve to perform. When Flickerstick gets on stage and the music starts flowing, it no longer matters that they sleep all day rather than promote their band or that they fight when they're not sleeping or picking up girls. All that matters is the great songs. I just hope they can make the long haul based solely on their talent. At this point, they're in last place as far as money goes, which, ironically, says quite a lot about the music industry.


Tracklisting:
Lift (With Love We Will Survive) (6:30) / Talk Show Host (3:14) / Chloroform The One You Love (3:45) / Coke (4:59) / Beautiful (4:14) / Sorry...Wrong Trajectory (5:21) / You're So Hollywood (3:42) / Got A Feeling (3:50) / Hey Or When The Drugs Wear Off (3:54) / Right Way To Fly (4:24) / Direct Line To The Telepathic (8:45)

Musicians:
Brandin Lea - lead vocals, guitar
Cory Kreig - guitar, keyboards, vocals
Dominic Weir - drums, vocals
Fletcher Lea - bass, vocals
Rex James Ewing - guitar, vocals

Discography:
Welcoming Home the Astronauts (2000)
Causing A Catastrophe - Live (2002)
To Madagascar And Back (EP/DVD) (2003)
Tarantula (2004)
Live From Atlanta (2007)

Genre: Rock

Origin US

Added: June 13th 2001
Reviewer: Clayton Walnum

Artist website: www.flickerstick.com
Hits: 2315
Language: english

  

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