The Flatliners are a bit of a “band’s band”. They’ve played with everyone under the sun, and have a reputation for being “good dudes” across the board, but they’ve evaded a lot of the attention in the UK that their contemporaries have been afforded. With ‘Dead Language’, the band might just have hit the nail on the head, and with two UK tours in 2013, they’ll get the chance to hit plenty of fresh ears with the new material.
Overall, ‘Dead Language’ is up there with the best the band have ever sounded, and it has all the pace you could possibly hope for in a punk rock record. Tracks like ‘Bury Me’ and ‘Birds Of England’ are distinct enough in style to give the record variation, but the real kicker here is the quality of the vocals. It’s certainly the strongest vocal performing on any of their albums, and it gives the record an amazing lift over the solid production.
That said, it’s hard to pick out instant favourites on early listens – you have to let ‘Dead Language’ creep up on you a bit before it really hits home, and though this might leave The Flatliners missing a few potential fans with shorter attention spans, those who give it time are in for a fantastic rewards. ‘Dead Language’ is one of our favourite punk records of 2013 (and it’s been a rather good year), so if you’re yet to check it out, then now is as good a time as any – Fat Wreck and the band have done a great job with the release and we can’t recommend it enough.
TOM AYLOTT