National Music Reviews
The Flatliners
Dead Language
Fat Wreck Chords
Street: 09.17
The Flatliners = Face to Face + Hot Water Music
I’ve got a thing for rough-voiced, fast-paced punk rock. Done right, it resonates in my soul like nothing else. Done wrong, it’s nothing that’s going to change my life, but it’s a damn fine time. I have a hard time criticizing the latter, which is why I’m not going to. The Flatliners aren’t unique, and Dead Language is not the latest and greatest evolution of the genre, but I don’t give a damn. Eventually I’m going to get tired of listening to it over and over, and it’ll go into another pile of nearly-identical albums that I might trawl through every once in awhile, but right now I completely enjoy every song and I don’t regret tapping my foot and banging my head to every catchy beat. Unique or not, it’s hard to resist four hard-rocking dudes throwing their hearts into their instruments and kicking some ass. –Matt Brunk