Album Reviews

I feel like a kid in the candy story with new albums by The Menzingers, Young Livers and now The Flatliners! Canada’s punkrockers are back with the follow-up to 2007’s “The Great Awake” and I’ve been lapping this one up.

“Cavalcade” opens with some sample about the four horsemen before kicking the door in with “The Calming Collection”, a song title that will not in the least prepare you for what’s coming. The song itself though is a perfect example of things to come… fast-paced drums and raging guitars that don’t exactly make it easy to figure out whether this could best be described as punkrock or hardcore. By the time they reach the chorus though, you realize you don’t really give a shit and simply pound along with your fist high in the air. They keep it up from there with rallying cries and singalongs in every song, only occasionally making room for a ska-infused cut (“He Was A Jazzman”) or cranking out a track that sounds like The Gaslight Anthem with a hangover (“Count Your Bruises”) and I mean that in a good way.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why these guys are on Fat Wreck so if you’re a fan of the label and the bands on it, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of “Cavalcade”!