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The
Flicker
Phases
(self released)
There is seemingly adherent speculation to why as we age, our
musical tastes shift in congruence. Our once outrageous preferences,
be it loud, obnoxious or simply offensive are often slowly replaced
with more lucid, maybe serene and likely more “sophisticated”
offerings. Perhaps the connection between these growing tastes
has a lot do with the life experiences we all individually encounter
and of course the level of education we can be blessed with.
And while it is how we benefit from such education that shapes
our appreciation for musical manifestation, a lot can be rested
simply on personal taste.
So as The Flicker struggle through these three tracks, it sparks
wonder as to just who may appreciate this brief journey into
dark-rock’s murky waters. The Flicker trudges through
immensely grating tunes of guitar slugging, bass frenzies, somewhat
tepid percussions and bizarre Axl Rose-like vocal wailing. The
music seems desperate to appear loud and crashing; a blended
concoction of mainstream hard rock with the more sinister tone
of Europe’s black gardened variety. “The Dirty Grind”
is just what it is – dirty, grinding (can that bass droop
any lower?), screeching, but ultimately lacking distinct growling
punch. Now this lack of oomph could very well be the result
of the incredibly poor production; no thanks to its recording
on an 8-channel minidisc, but surely music that is raw in essence,
will seem just so with garage quality recording (even more potent
in that case no?) Not here however, the poor production quality
is a stone-wall for the music; which simply feels depleted and
lethargic.
Even though they possess far more creative qualities than your
average hard rock act (the thrusty low end work and gyrated
arrangements of “Consolidation” for example displays
interesting initial stages), it simply lacks the unbridled passion
that one would equate with artists seeking detection on label
radars.
It is difficult to see past these glaring negatives, problems
one can’t solely blame on its less than stellar recording.
There are plenty of demo recordings, basement work and other
lo-fi attempts that produce far superior results. It would be
rather unprincipled to judge work based on personal taste (not
that I’ve ever been “unprincipled” before!),
as it often skews the artist in question’s appeal to others
who may find it enjoyable. Sure, comparing work to a more proficient
standard is the very nature of this whole spiel, but personal
tastes and whatever values aside; this just isn’t very
good.
Reviewed by
Billy Maulana
August 15th, 2003 |
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