CD Title: Welcoming Home the Astronauts

Epic Records

By Adam Bowman

Yes, they won VH1's Bands On The Run. It's not the fact that they actually were victorious, it's how they did it that surprised me. They won the contest not by the side-quests, but by their live show. So when I finally caught word that they had released an album, I couldn't help but wonder if they could possibly capture that same energy and passion on a disc. When I finally got a copy of Welcoming Home The Astronauts, I was blown away. This album is easily one of the better albums this year, in any genre.

No pop fan will be able to get rid of the hooks found in songs like "Beautiful" and my personal favorite, "Smile". By the same token, however, this Texas quintet proves that they can trip with the best of them in "Lift" and "Direct Line To The Telepathic", which start and conclude the album, respectively. If I had to say a bad word about any of this album, it's that drummer Dominic Weir tends to go above the band (meaning, he's louder than the rest). Fortunately, these moments are very sporadic.

Although "Album Of The Year" is a lofty perch for a new-found band like Flickerstick, give this album a spin anyways. They rock, they trip, and they hook you in with a style that gets the point across without depressing you. It doesn't matter what style of music you're into, Flickerstick makes good music that a lot of people can relate to and, dare I say, just may like.