Mighty tigers look less threatening when stretched out as though fallen giraffes. In My Myth, the latest EP from indie rockers Flasher. What must be said of that hand-drawn tiger is not just that it suits the mood and lighter flow In My Myth’s four tracks represent, but it is far better than most could cobble together. There is something about the space in between those attentions to detail that contrasts so nicely with the lush workings of these four songs. Not a second to breathe under an avalanche of moving, detached vocals that both utilise colloquial avenues and places but make them feel representative of Western streets.
Where the home of Flasher, Washington D.C., differs greatly from the United Kingdom and those older brick roads, are merely in name. Opening track Eastern Ave, of longing and the sweet dreams from which desires run free, is a gorgeous and moving opener. Maybe it is timing, the moving out process and the systematic, constant mourning of losing something that was never yours captured thoroughly on Eastern Ave, some thousand or four miles away from where it expresses itself most openly. Weightless courage on second track Adriene is anything but. Heavy tones, confident descriptors and some exhaustive guitar work see In My Myth spring to life with distortion setting Flasher apart from their contemporaries. They utilise that madness and consistent rise with great skill and their efforts bring about the strong introduction EPs are tasked frequently, dangerously, with.
Swaying with confident ease in a nice cluster of rising tones that spiral down and out, always tethered to that guitar work, gives Adriene a wonderful ending. Flasher are keen to show their guitar is the striking force behind their work, its waviness and distortion, the cutting-edge style that sees Motive flash through are convincing enough of that. Take on that great release Flasher construct. Groove improvement, considered allure and a striking rhythm prove their assured talents. Lyrical spottiness on Motive is pulled apart by the guitar work, which feels frankly nostalgic for the guitar-heavy times of the past. Once more proving the genre has moved on from just a plain chord sailing venture, Flasher makes good on their EP closer, Hands On. They are hands-on, that is the best part of this band. Exhausted, out for the count but avoiding the cracks and troubles they keep spiralling through.
Manoeuvring around those same routines and troubles is what Flasher asks of their listeners. Tiring it may be, exhausting a condition it may procure, it is better to spin some wild trip that takes us somewhere new. Flasher settles in nicely to its vibrating guitar work, its jagged bits and pieces sticking out, catching the emotional clarity of their unsure listeners and working them through what they need. In My Myth deploys some slick guitar work, particularly toward its sweet and satisfying end, its climax coming closer and closer, building on the guitar that acts, as ever, as the spine of Hands On. Petering out with their confident flash of the work they lay out here, In My Myth provides Flasher four more quality tracks for them to build from. There is no doubt they will, and for those just getting into what Flasher has to offer, welcome to the club.
