Band releases live Atlanta album

It is typically very difficult for a "has-been" to make a comeback into the mainstream (Come on, just take a look at the shameless plugs in VH1's The Surreal Life). Many artists take a hiatus to reinvent themselves before re-emerging into music scene while others stick to their guns. Flickerstick, an indie rock band from Dallas, is definitely attempting the latter.

Flickerstick is no newcomer to the indie rock scene, having been featured as the wining band on VH1's hit reality series Bands on the Run in 2001. The publicity from the show increased the breadth of Flickerstick's fan base, which was developed due to the band's extensive touring during and prior to the show.

In 2001, the band then signed a deal with Sony/Epic to release their debut album, but ended up parting from Epic and pursuing independent labels. Flickerstick took a three year hiatus before working on their most recent project, Live from Atlanta.

The album name Live from Atlanta may seem self-explanatory, but the name was not derived from an open performance in Atlanta. Instead, it was named after a special recording session that the band conducted over two nights at Tree Room Studios.

The recording session, which took place during September 2006, was an invite-only event for 150 Flickerstick fans from across the nation.

But interestingly enough, the album is not just a "greatest hits" compilation.

Half of the twelve songs performed were taken from the band's previous two albums while the others were original compositions.

Moreover, the album also features three live videos of the performance that play when the CD is played on a computer.

The standout hit on the album is definitely "Beautiful," which is offered as one of the featured videos. Perhaps the most impressive thing about the track was the balance each of the elements had-the variance in pitch between the three electric guitars, the low strumming of the bass, and the passionate vocals all blended together very nicely.

"Whatever Gets You Off" sounded like a throwback to 60s/70s era rock in the tradition of The Eagles. The slow tempo and mournful, caterwauling vocals blend nicely with the classic guitar solos.

A surprise comes four minutes into the song when the tempo picks up abruptly. The last minute of the song sounds like the earlier three minutes in fast-forward, but somehow, it closes the song in an excellent way.

"Helicopter" turns up the speed to liquefy right from the start with a very fast-paced drum and guitar combo behind the catchy, heavily-enunciated vocals. "Oh I / oh I gotta think it over / walking on eggshells / oh I gotta think it over / get on the dance floor..." The fast tempo, however, gets a little tiring about halfway through the song.

"Chloroform" is attention-catching because of the morbid lyrics. The hook tells the listener to "chloroform the one you love / and take her back," which even taken figuratively sounds a little creepy. The rest of the song was not particularly impressive, but not bad either.

Looking at the album from a wider perspective, Flickerstick falls into the indie rock genre with hints of pop and punk.

Flickerstick sounds like U2 mixed with Coldplay, although far more generic than either of the two aforementioned bands.

The band does a fine job in most songs of blending the guitar melodies with the accompanying drums, but many of the rhythms and beats sound similar from song to song.

Yes, Flickerstick is indeed a "good" band; they undoubtedly possess great skill in their instrumentation and excellent vocals.

However, the band is not as original as they could be with skills of their caliber. It would be nice to see them step further out of the box to come up with a new, novel sound.