#flashlight o

Vijay Masharani & Flashlight O - I might have to use this on my landlord

Orb Tapes

Flashlight O “The Truman Sho”

Okay, okay. So this album has been out for a while. But i’ve been listening to it a hell of a lot lately and I wanted to review it, so lay off. I was first introduced to Colin Alexander’s bedroom project Flashlight O a few years ago, through the postings of my friend Dean, who does a project called Quarterbacks. Many times he has posted about an interesting artist that has gone on to be a fond find of mine, generally existing, even if only quietly, in a small corner of the internet, and a small corner of America. Artists like UNITY and Flower Housewife spring to mind, nuggets that can only usually be discovered via the philanthropy of music lovers, destined to spread good music like an infectious disease.

The call-back nature of this project is strong. What with titling, the whiry MIDI-esque synth sounds, the in-joking and knowingly goofy lyrics, the tape-recorded production and the sonic alludes to 80s/90s indie pop and indie rock. In fact, the tones of the vocals, by Colin, send ripples of bands like Beat Happening, Half-Japanese or The Fall.

The casual weirdness of this record is bound to the pop sensibilities, and the rhythmic warmness that ultimately rounds The Truman Sho. It isn’t a particularly long record, but there are a lot of different grounds covered. From the moody, but hypnotic intro of “Wooden Flooring”, the droney interlude of “Fuck World Peace”, the crunchy and grungy “Thanksgiving” and the downright (and beautifully) naff “Cool Groove”, sounding like burgeoning computer tech, like some Windows 95 software backing music, or the soundtrack to a ROM-DOS point and click. When it’s not doing those things, the tone of this tape is centred around a love of 90s indie rock and pop, with the stripped bare drums that sound sonically clean but suitably scrappy at the same time. This is garage band aesthetic, taken to a bedroom, fed via Packard Bell nostalgia.

That is by no accounts a bad thing, and Flashlight O has cohesively concocted a personal ode to his formative elements. It’s a true testament to the way in which a lot of music that takes nods toward musical generations of yesteryear can contrast with the years since and combine both into something with a fresh perspective. This all makes for a solid first album.

8.6/10

HIGHLIGHTS: Happy Baby Pose, Holding, Cool Groove