The Flatliners - Count Your Bruises EP
The Flatliners
Count Your Bruises EP
The Flatliners’ Cavalcade was one of the best punk albums of 2010. A marked improvement over the band’s previous material, it showcased plenty of growth while maintaining a familiar, enjoyable sound. Unsurprisingly, the B-sides from those recording sessions have been just as solid. Count Your Bruises offers listeners two more slabs of proficient punk in addition to the previously released title track. That song was one of the more melodic, anthemic tracks found on Cavalcade, and it’s just as effective here: Built around a simple, infectious chorus anchored by Chris Cresswell’s passionate vocals, it’s clear why it was selected as a single. The two new songs don’t veer far from the group’s tried-and-true formula; “Sticky Bastards” is a mid-tempo romp that subtly integrates some of the ska tinges largely absent from Cavalcade into the band’s newly established, more well-rounded attack, while “This Guy Reads From A Card” has perhaps the best chorus of this all-too-short EP, with crashing guitars surrounding Cresswell’s elevated performance. Having found their own voice, the Flatliners are thriving; Count Your Bruises is simply another feather in the cap for one of the most promising bands within the punk scene.
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