Band: (Pip The) FLASHBULB MEMORY
Genres: Punk / Rock / Post-Rock / Hardcore / Emo / Emotive Hardcore / ScreamoRelated artists: Target Aggression, Stop It!!, Good Clean Fun, Fat Shadow, Full Sun and Pink Razors.
Country: Richmond, Virginia USA
Years Active: 2000-2001
Song: "Fist Through the Looking Glass"
Album: "Joshua Fit For Battle split"
Year: 2000
For fans of: Wow, Owls!, Aim Of Conrad, Light The Fuse And Run, Creepozoidz, Stop It!!, No Tongue, Hoover, Ultra Dolphins, Wolves, D'Amore, Valandora, Ten Grand, Wild Guess, Dream Caste, Secret Smoker, Four Hundred Years, Drummers, Meth And Goats, Serotonin, The Reptilian, Sing! Sing! Prison, Soft Floors and Coma Regalia aka PROPER SCREAMO.
Label(s): Self Released / Revolutionary Audio
This post's artist is from the November 2016 Mix. This is track #7.
This post's artist is from the November 2016 Mix. This is track #7.
FLASHBULB MEMORY is, for me, that band who had the split with Joshua Fit For Battle, which seemed almost like an odd pairing considering JFFB ripped everyone's faces off with that Love Lost But Not Forgotten split 7". Although they were a punk band more than anything, Richmond, Virginia's FLASHBULB MEMORY seamlessly blended emo, rock, screamo and hardcore into a pretty danceable creation that is certainly worth checking out.
On the split 12" with Joshua Fit For Battle, opener "Not Some Phony Symphony" begins like Wow, Owls!, Stop It!! and brings in a few other sounds that generally remind me of late 90s emo and dancier screamo. Track two's "All Them Crazies" and "Live Like This" begin like Joshua Fit For Battle but quickly transition to a punk/hardcore/emo (not screamo) sound, although "Live Like This" has a strong Secret Smoker feel to it along with a second half not unlike Hot Water Music. "No Particular Reason" is one of the weaker songs and has some Valandora-esque singing, likely from another member of the group. "Raise Your Hand" begins like Riddle Of Steel but moves to heavier territory after the first 20 seconds with some very rockin' screamy/yelly emo that sounds like it's right outta 1996. "Fist Through the Looking Glass" is my favourite of all FLASHBULB MEMORY songs. This beaut reminds me a lot of Ten Grand although it definitely hits the Level Plane rock/screamo sound carried by bands such as Aim Of Conrad and Light The Fuse And Run.
FLASHBULB MEMORY's other releases include the song "Empty Promise" on compilation which is their most straightforward punk song. Their final output was the four-song 'Tour Cat' cd that although good, does pale in comparison to the stronger tracks on their 12" split. "Money Clip" also appears on the 2002 'We Will Never Answer With Questions' compilation and is a sassy hardcore song similar in strut to Meth And Goats. "Lazilywelay" is reminiscent of punk/post-hardcore bands such as Serotonin and closes with a very ballsy solo. "Here's That Word Again" is the screamiest romp on the EP and probably the strongest track. The closer "Untitled (coda)" is a pretty decent instrumental jam that doesn't really sound like FLASHBULB MEMORY material, instead leaning towards post-hardcore/instru-metal genres.
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DISCOGRAPHY
2000 - Joshua Fit For Battle split 12"LP (stream/download here)
2000 - With Literacy and Justice for All cd compilation (contributed "Empty Promise") (stream/download here)
2001 - Tour Cat cdrEP (stream/download here)
2002 - We Will Never Answer With Questions compilation cd (contributed "Money Clip")
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(2000) FLASHBULB MEMORY - "Fist Through the Looking Glass" (from 'Joshua Fit For Battle' split)
(2000) FLASHBULB MEMORY - "Not Some Phony Symphony" (from 'Joshua Fit For Battle' split)
(2000) FLASHBULB MEMORY - "Live Like This" (from 'Joshua Fit For Battle' split)
(2000) FLASHBULB MEMORY - "Empty Promise" (from 'Literacy and Justice for All' comp)
(2001) FLASHBULB MEMORY - "Here's That Word Again" (from 'Tour Cat')
(2001) FLASHBULB MEMORY - "Money Clip" (from 'Tour Cat')
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FLASHBULB MEMORY additional links
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OH! Oh jeez Dave, these are my old roommates! Well, two of them. You appear based on the post not to know this, but Flashbulb Memory actually evolved out of a band called Target For Aggression, which really was just a high school punk band at first but ended up becoming a close approximation to Flashbulb by the time of their last release, a split CD with Lewistown (also from Richmond, whose drummer went on to be in The Setup). The only difference between TFA and Flashbulb Memory was that Jon, who played bass and did some vocals in TFA, was replaced by Branch, who played guitar and did some vocals in Flashbulb (Jay switched from guitar to bass when the changeover happened). You can hear the TFA stuff here: https://targetforaggression.bandcamp.com/ I can't find that Lewistown stuff online right now but if you need it hit me up and I can send you that too. Anyway, Jeff from TFA/Flashbulb went on to play in Good Clean Fun, Stop It!!, Pink Razors, Fat Shadow, and is currently in Full Sun. Duncan, Jay, and Branch (and Jon) all kinda got out of playing music after this, but I'm still facebook friends with Duncan and Jay, and I sometimes run into them at people's weddings. But yeah, the Flashbulb song "No Particular Reason" is actually about me... which isn't the greatest thing to admit, but at this point it's all water under the bridge.
ReplyDeleteUpdated the post, thank you Drew!!!
DeleteYou should be writing for this blog, me thinks!