| CD REVIEW The Flare-Up! |
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Band : The Flare-Up! I’ve no idea when exactly this Stockholm-based Swedish Retro Glam Rock quartet came into existance, or whether they went through line-up changes and stuff like that…because the info which would’ve informed me about that is simply lacking…but I very much suspect the band’s members (lead singer/ guitarist Manne Svensson, lead guitarist/ backing singer Pontus Fryk, pianist/ keyboardist Niklas Hagen (oh sorry, just found out that guy’s new, as piano & keyboards on this new album by the band were oplayed by one Sebastian Orést), bassist/ backing singer Christian von Essen, and drummer Carl Wikman) to be at the basis of the Stockholm based Criminal Records label (founded in 2002) on which they have their material out…which, if I’m correct, includes in chronological order : the debut We Are The Rudes EP, the debut full-length Saints In Sinner City, the Too Many Zombies EP, and eventually the Whip ‘Em Hard, Whip ‘Em Good (and apparently a 12-inch vinyl split with Russian act Tammyshots – featuring Tamara Baranova a.k.a. Red Amy to have been released in May of last), originally released in Sweden/ Scandinavia on March 28 of this year, with a distribution through Sound Pollution. Retro Glam Rock means goin’ back to the feel at the start of the ‘70s, when bands like New York Dolls were making magazine headlines (heh, as it so happens, NYD had themselves a Swedish frontman, didn’t they!?). It also means goin’ back to wearing them clothes occasionally! The Flare-Up! now, have very well understood that to make things interesting for themselves ànd the fans…and to make it at all in this music business world of today…they not only need to modernize their sound somewhat (which they do by giving some of their songs a rather paced drive), and give the fans a sound in which the guitars are constantly “doin’ battle”, in which the keyboardist will occasionally exchange his backing role (nice wacky tunes to boot) with an additional piano play (makes for a very nice slight complexity at times). But most of all, they’ve understood that you cannot get anywhere without a lead singer with a signature weird sound in his voice! And Svensson sure has that whaling quality which has made the best Glam Rock bands at the beginning of the ‘70s! Oh well, and occasionally the guitars dó take a more laid-back position, the music in a couple of songs relying more on the keyboard organ sounds (check “Too Many Zombies”)…that makes for some variety, after all, you know! Check out what the band sounds like at myspace.com/theflareup, where the band posted no less than 6 out of the 10 tracks on the album. Well, actually, there’s 11…the additional being a hidden track which follows the revisitation (aptly re-titled “Sure You’re Big Enough?”) of album opening track “Put It In A Letter” of which the music is played again, with sample vocals on top of it to make the difference. Sounds like the a sample from the same movie of which other samples were used for “Viscious Seeds” (one of the posted tracks), by the way! Not at all the same one which gives her voice for a semi-duet in the track “All Them Pretty Dolls” (that one nót made available for your audio needing ears). If you’re lucky enough, you might live in the neighborhood of the towns (in Germany, Italy) the guys will be heading out for on their 11-date European domination tour starting late September. Moscow will also be overthrown (on Dec. 4), but no dates in the Benelux area have been confirmed as of yet! Meanwhile, the band has already made a video for the album’s title track, which they submitted to the music tv channels in their area. Until that is shown on more widely screened channels, there’s still the album to discover. And a nice one it is indeed, if you’re into this kind of music. Anyway, if you’re not, why you been reading this article up to this point, eh? A band to keep in sight, I tells ya! 90/100 Tony. |