Several years ago if you were to mention Brighton you might expect to be furnished with the fact that the city is the gay capital of Europe. Whether there is/was any truth in that is largely irrelevant besides it being many people's first thought about the area. Now the same city is more likely to be heralded for its music scene, surely one of the finest and most flourishing in the country, if not in Europe. Add to the growing list of talent, garage-pop trio Flash Bang Band, a group who've wisely taken their time to piece together this début album. They formed in 2009 and we're informed that their sound has since changed for the better, and the list of acts they've supported (at home and abroad) shows the respect they've earned from their peers.
When you learn that the record's opening track is called 'Dananananafreud' you can probably guess one of the bands they've warmed up for. Others include The Hidden Cameras, Esben & The Witch and Cloud Control. The song is a crashing, modern, punky tune that lives up to their chosen moniker, but not everything is so abrasive. They do keep a cutting edge to many songs though and a grungy influence filters through the likes of 'Screw Come Loose' and 'Art History', It's not that cut and dry, with both 'Rooting For The Underdog' and 'Convenient Excuses For Erstwhile Spooks Part 1' bridging the gap and ensuring the album flows well. Closer 'Good Excuse' is another that shows multi-dimensions to the band.What really lifts 'Bite Your Tongue' are the pop melodies they throw around at will.
The double-bill of 'If You're Driving' and 'Thinking Above My Station' are what would happen if all those US pop-punk bands suddenly discovered taste and realised just how shockingly bad they are. 'Young Rouge' is another where they whip out some nice melodies, but here they wrap them in a little more of an experimental sound: this is probably verification of them moving on from their early recordings, and maybe the same could be said for highlight 'Dreams That Never Fade Away'. They put their knack for a hook to great use on 'Something New', a song that at first appears to be the album's solitary slowie, but that soon changes'. The title 'Bite Your Tongue' is a metaphor for not rushing into something, and that's the process that Flash bang Band used in making this album. It sounds like it was a shrewd move.
Flash Bang Band's website
Buy the album
Catch them live:
Flash Bang Band ALBUM LAUNCH PARTY
Tues, Sept 24, The Old Blue Last, London, UK
Sat, Sept 28, The Blind Tiger Club, Brighton, UK
Tues, Oct 1, Sticky Mike's Frog Bar, Brighton, UK
Sat, Oct 5, kontext, Malmo, Sweden
Fri, Oct 18, The Lecturn Pub, Brighton, UK
Tues, Oct 22, Sebright Arms, London, UK
Fri, Nov 8, Les Caves du Manoir, Martigny, Valais, Switzerland
Fri, Nov 15, Jorg's place Nr. Cologne, Germany
Tue, Nov 26, Montpellier, France
Sat, Nov 30, Orleans, Montpellier, France
Sun, Dec 1, Caen, France
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