Midweek Music: Flasher
Photo by Amy Breesman
Post-punk band Flasher has only recently jumped onto the scene, but originally met back while they were teenagers in the Washington DC indie scene. After releasing their self-titled debut EP on DC independent label, Sister Polygon in 2016, they’ve since played with Parquet Courts, Shame, Dehd, and in 2017 signed to Domino Records. While on tour in Europe and the U.K. this past October and November, they curated a playlist of songs that were on heavy rotation in the van. Listen below and catch them on tour with Public Practice through the beginning of December.
“Video Life” - Chris Spedding
A perfect song for the opening (or closing) credits.
“Flavor Crystals” - Suburban Lawns
Bought this record on a whim a few years back because I really liked their song “Janitor.” Flavor Crystals soon after took the top spot as my favorite SL track. The way Su Tissue uses her voice is entirely unique. I definitely prefer all of their songs where she takes the lead vocal duties.
“Drab Measure” - Crack Cloud
First learned about this Toronto collective after a german radio DJ played this tune immediately following an on air interview we’d done with her. At first I assumed they were a three piece, and was surprised to learn that there are four guitarists that often play the same hypnotic riff. Eight members or three, this is a great band and I really hope I get to see them live asap.
“62 Moons” - Cold Beat
Hannah has continually been putting out some of my favorite records for the past decade now. First as the bass player of the late-great Grass Widow, and now in the fantastic Cold Beat. We had the pleasure of playing with them in San Francisco earlier this past July and it was one of my favorite shows of the year. They also recently put out a record that’s all Eurythmics covers... so you should probably check that out too.
“The Futuristic District” - Miranda Winters
I love this song, especially the vocal melody. Miranda Winters is the singer/guitarist of Melkbelly from Chicago, and a few months ago she put out this tape of solo material. The whole tape is fantastic, but I find myself continually replaying this one. There’s a previously released alternate version of this song somewhere on Bandcamp but I can’t remember what name she released it under :(
“Autumn Sweater” - Yo La Tengo
The percussion in this song gets me going. Does anyone apply shaker as masterfully as Yo La Tengo?
“Garden Of Love” - The Liminas
Put this song on and start swaying slowly back and forth. I put this song on a playlist for my partner and she said it was scary, maybe it's the whisper/spoken vocals?
“Another Day” - Retiree
The other day I was listening to the The Lot Radio stream and the DJ’s played this song. I tried googling the lyrics but couldn’t find it anywhere. Eventually I ended up commenting on an Instagram post of them asking what it was called and they helped me out. It’s so gratifying when the chorus drops the second time.