Flashlight Brown

Apparently Flashlight Brown wrote four albums worth of material before settling on the 13 tracks that make up Blue. One has to wonder what they intend to do with those songs… maybe they could have chosen them instead? While the energy and enthusiasm put forth on tracks such as "Sicker,” "Get Out Of My Car” and "Party By Myself” is admirable, there’s a distinct stench of immaturity here that detracts from the overall product. Bouncy four-chord songs are simplistic in a Descendents-lite (well… Sum 41) sort of way that makes their candied nature quite appealing but hot damn, if all of that sugar isn’t rotting their brains. Sure dumb can be fun (hello, Ramones), but these juvenile rhyming patterns are the sad stuff even teenyboppers would rip out of their poetry books. Instead of exercising your sense of appeal, Blue exercises your eyes… as you roll them incessantly. Bubblegum pop punk still isn’t dead and if Flashlight Brown were to use their faculties to create something meaningful (or at least halfway intelligent) in their statements, Blue could have reinforced that. As is though, it’s only setting up the final nail in the coffin.