Flagman - Flagman

Flagman

Flagman
self-released; 2016

3.4 out of 5

By Jamie Funk

Back in the early ’90s Primus was a huge band. If you knew Primus in high school you were cool. I decided to check out some of their old videos. They still hold up. They might not have been the best songwriters in the world but dear lord they could play their instruments. 

​Within fifteen seconds after listening to the self-titled album Flagman by Flagman the band Primus popped into mind. The patent Les Claypool playing was evident. What I wasn’t expecting was the lead singer to actually sound like Les Claypool as well. The similarities don’t stop there. Flagman consists of three members, Sam Stewart, Cody Singleton and Grant Freeman.

I like this band. For one there aren't many bands who play this type of style. That being said there is a good amount of room for improvement. The band is technically pretty fantastic, however they aren't always in the pocket which is more important than being fancy. They are also a bit scattered stylistically. For example, the indie rock song “Sunday” and “Fall” are dramatically different than the first two songs. Last but not least is the recording quality. There are a lot of improvements that could be made in this area to get it past sounding like a demo.

They start off with the Primus inspired “All The Way.” The bass line has that slap bounce while the guitar plays mostly lead. All things considered it's one of the highlights. The next song “Naked in the Kitchen” may fall more into Primus territory. There's no denying the bass skills. The lo-fi production makes the music sound frantic. 

As I mentioned earlier “Sunday” is a complete departure. They sound closer to the band Real Estate and the singing sounded completely different as well. “Fall” has some inspired instrument parts and a nice sounding verse. However, the chorus isn’t as effective. “Jealousy” seems to be Weezer-inspired while the closer “She Crawls” has some success.

After skimming their Facebook page it’s evident these guys are pretty young giving them ample time to narrowing in on a sound and hopefully getting into a pro studio at some point. As of right now they are a case of wait and see with a good amount of potential.

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