The Flatliners are a Canadian punk-rock dudes who are stepping back from hardcore and ska roots with their fifth album Inviting Light, and making a giant lep towards alternative and indie. Punk dukes of Fat Wreck Records were highly respected on independent scene, especially in 2010 when they dominated with third album Calvacade. Over time, The Flatliners evolved - they rejected something, and something else grew on them. New record label and long break after previous album Dead Language were enough reasons to anticipate change in sound. This change did not come out of nowhere, but it wasn't until now that we could freely talk about it.
The technique is there, aggressive approach so-so, acceleration and angst intermittently show their teeth, and hardocre and ska are left in the past. Melody is put in front, instruments are more transparent, while the vocal underwent biggest transformation. So, Inviting Light is incomparable with the rest of the band's discography and will definitely reject some of their fans. Truth to he told, it will also bring them some new following.
Prolonged introduction to the prolonged first song leads the listener to the new territory. Midtempo is half-baked a characteristic vocal of Chris Creswell is screaming without barking. On one of the singles, Hang My Head, we hear impressive range of the guy who resembles Tim from Rise Against. Nicotine Lips sounds like a b-side taken from some of the previous albums and it is the most upbeat o the bunch. Indoors relies on melody with its metal mini-variations and is also supported by slow tempo guided by drums. Unconditional Love is unusual country ballad with spicy chorus and mellow guitar. The furthest departure from punk and excursion to the unknown destination is certainly semi-acoustic Chameleon Skin. It is positioned towards the end, which is a great decision considering that is precedes No Roads.
Burn Out Again and Infinite Wisdom stand out - the first one with pleasant vibe and interesting solo, and the second one with hardcore that does not disrupt the coherence of the rest of the album. Music and vocals sound over-produced, but that is just the initial impression since the album offer much more on the raw side than on the polished side. Negatives are guitars and solos that just don't fit with the whole new sonic concept. Bass is weak, and I wouldn't mind If the drums were more in my face (ears).
Although a positive band, motives and emblems of the lyrics are less positive. They don't speak about death directly, but they mention bones, blood, sweat, parts of the body, etc. That's just their thing since they were doing it from the go. It is a bit more difficult to deconstruct what is a common denominator, but I would guess interpersonal relationships. Mood is morose, but in a strangely polite manner. "Help me peel my eyes awake, come and roll me right out of the grave, it feels like someone pissed in my veins" is a good example?
In times when everyone decides to go back to basics, The Flatliners opted for uproot. Why not?
