| Lately, rock and roll has exhibited a movement towards a futuristic realm of synthetic instrumentation and computerized backing. Trading in guitars for laptops, the definition of what makes a rock band is gradually mutating. Not everyone is taking notes, though.
The Flashing Lights exist in a world of summers past – racing down the highway with the top down, air guitars at the ready. Their newest album, Sweet Release, continues along right where their stunning debut, Where The Change Is, left off. Packed with sing-along choruses, anthemic cadences and stadium-friendly guitar riffs circa 1973, Sweet Release is the type of timeless pop record that Halifax-gone-Toronto musicians (see Sloan) have proven themselves capable of time and again.
While not as immediately ear-grabbing as its predecessor, Sweet Release is an album that makes its impression gradually, improving with each listen. Facing the dreaded sophomore slump head-on and coming out the other side alive and kicking, The Flashing Lights have even managed – dare I say it – to mature and expand their sound within the confines of good, old-fashioned rock ’n’ roll.
"It’s really annoying when bands say they’ve really changed a lot, and then the record comes out and they really haven’t," says lead singer, guitarist and songwriter Matt Murphy from his Toronto home, with the sounds of tour-prep commotion in the background.
Embarking on yet another lengthy cross-Canada tour, The Flashing Lights have gone to great lengths to capture some of their infamous live energy on Sweet Release, at times recording live from the floor.
The larger part of these sessions, however, were structured around an acoustic guitar centre built on layer-by-layer, often giving the appearance of a seamless live performance.
"It was a good way for us to explore the songs better and point us in a different direction with this material."
Not everything ended up quite as Murphy had hoped. After rehearsing the Sweet Release material for the tour, he candidly admits that the songs are gelling in a way that they haven’t before, and says the band is now kicking itself for some of the arrangements they included on the record.
After the idea of re-recording was broached, the band decided instead to take a closer listen to the album, and found that they think it "just feels nice."
"It may take a couple of listens to get through, but there’s definitely a magic there," says Murphy.
Murphy built up his chops in the early ’90s with Halifax pop explosion scenesters The Super Friendz, then packed up and moved to Toronto to start The Flashing Lights.
The rigours of working out itineraries, travel plans and accommodations – a process which typically took several weeks to complete – made extensive touring from Halifax a daunting proposition.
"In Halifax it was just too difficult to even tour, and we missed out on a lot of opportunities that came up. In Toronto, if there’s a show somewhere in Ontario or the Northern U.S., we can just pick up and go and be there within a matter of hours."
Still, while the majority of the Halifax bands from The Super Friendz era have either joined the convoy to Toronto or long since broken up, Murphy still has a place in his heart for his hometown.
"It’s definitely not what it used to be, and I think that’s a really good thing. Before it was really generic, and I think it’s healthier, and it just seems more like Halifax to have everybody doing something weird and eccentric."
Touring to the sounds of a lot of ’70s country, particularly Willie Nelson, and a Badfinger record that Gaven Dianda, the band’s keyboardist and percussionist gave Murphy for his birthday, the Lights’ tour van keeps the band’s focus on the past in play. Besides citing Destiny’s Child as the ideal tour mates, Murphy admits that he’s paid little attention to current music.
"I don’t really have anything that’s really knocking me out these days. I’m just thinking about our music!"
As exciting as the new waves in digital music-making can be, The Flashing Lights serve as a reminder that rock will always have room for four guys with guitars, nary a laptop in sight. |
