Labels: self released
Review by: MH
Flawless have gone for a bit of an “emo” cover on this tape/bandcamp release “” a black and white photo of someone cycling down a US suburban street as the sun shines down. It looks like Autumn, or should I say “Fall”, as the trees are bare. They are a young band from Springfield, Missouri – not to be mistaken for the rapper who appears on my lastfm page while I’m listening to them. You get 5 songs of melodic hardcore with a smattering of pop punk thrown in for your money (or for nothing as there is no minimum charge for the download).
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Their Bandcamp page cites some hefty 90s names as influences including Lifetime, Jawbreaker and Texas Is The Reason.  I am not sure they were even born when some of those bands were putting out records as they are apparently still in high school. They clearly have some good taste in music though. Their mates at school must either think they are the coolest kids around or that they’re a bunch of out-of-touch weirdos. It’s fairly straightforward melodic hardcore for the most part with shouty bits where both vocalists shout into the mics together – part sung, part shouted vocals. The vocals get a bit more gruff on the last 2 songs. There is plenty of fast drumming throughout and a few heavy metal riffs thrown in for good measure “” standard stuff on this type of music.  “Model Home” veers a bit more towards pop punk. Flawless wear their influences on their sleeves and are clearly heavily influenced by those 90s bands I’ve mentioned. They even have a song called “1992″. It doesn’t necessarily sound like those bands directly – I’d probably compare them more to the earlier Title Fight releases “” quite a raw sound with plenty of urgency and energy. I like it – pretty solid stuff. One thing though -  is that a person making dog-barking noises at the end of “1992″ or is he coughing?