Flashbulb Fires

Artist Information

Biography

ABOUT FLASHBULB FIRES:

After two years of relentless touring in support of their debut album, Flashbulb Fires sought inspiration and solace deep in the mountains of Colorado to begin work on a new collection of songs. Taking in the scope of their surroundings, they were moved to create something bigger and more daring than their previous work. It wasn’t an effort to indulge, but rather, to capture. The result is GASCONADER, a vivid glowing statement.

The band’s first LP was known for being a bold and brooding narrative that took aim at the dark underbelly of suburban-American culture. Called “one of the best indie-rock albums of the year” by Des Moines City View and “emotional and engulfing” by Dallas Morning News, Glory (2009) remains an intimate reflection of spiritual conflict woven among heartbreaking brass and echoing vocal harmony. Yet, within the stirring and impassioned performances that encompass Flashbulb Fires' debut album, there are moments where something more grandiose is lurking just beneath the surface. These moments read like illusive musical promises that whisper of an impending harmonic bravado. In fact, the narrative that found its beginnings on Glory had only just taken root. GASCONADER is the culmination of those promises and every bit the triumphant kaleidoscopic pop that Flashbulb Fires hinted at on their first record.

GASCONADER is a distinct modern take on a seemingly nostalgic voice. It evokes moments of Motown and 80’s pop that are quickly twisted and decapitated into more sinister versions of the originals. The textures are hazy and swirling and at times the band delves into a vandal-graffiti inspired punk ethos full of charisma and dramatic flare. When the smoke clears, there is just enough space for singer Patrick McGuire’s intimate melodies and the distant harmony of a ghostly choir.

The album is not only large in breadth sonically, but also thematically as it skirts the boundaries of the “concept album” definition. GASCONADER takes a biting satirical look at a religious culture so prevalent in modern Middle America. The album’s bombastic narrator, a steadfast evangelical, boastfully proclaims his own righteousness and begs a lover to see the light before the impending rapture. McGuire’s lyrics and characters are informed by his own conflicted past, one in which he was shuttled perpetually between his Catholic father and Mormon mother. Now an atheist, the singer explores his lingering struggle to connect in a meaningful way with old friends and family along with the hypocrisy of the culture he grew up in.

GASCONADER's principal narrator, as well as the music itself, embodies the aptly named album, its personality and tone full of surly magnetism and fearless swagger. With the release of their latest record, Flashbulb Fires undoubtedly cements their unique voice as a modern American band.

Instrumentation

Michael James - Electric Guitar and Vocals
Chris Sturniolo - Drums and Vocals
Patrick McGuire - organ, Acoustic Guitar, Lead Vocal

Discography

Gasconader - Released May 15th, 2012
Glory - Released December 15th, 2009

Official Website

http://www.FlashbulbFires.com

Links

• Facebook
• Last.fm
• Twitter
• MySpace
• Buy GLORY on CD Baby
• Buy GLORY on iTunes
• Buy GASCONADER on CD Baby
• Buy GASCONADER on iTunes

Audio

• I Beat My Body Down
  Listen  
• The Whale
  Listen  
• Dark Ghost (I've Got Arms)
  Listen  
• Serious Way
  Listen  
• Cult Life
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Cult Life
• Serious Way
• Dark Ghost (I've Got Arms)
• The Whale
• I Beat My Body Down

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• PRESS QUOTES [+ Show ]
  

  "Slightly alternative, slightly electronic, completely awesome." - 1146 Miles "...one of the best..."Slightly alternative, slightly electronic, completely awesome." - 1146 Miles
  
  "...one of the best indie-rock albums of the year." - Des Moines City View
  
  "All it should take is a little exposure and you can say, "I saw Flashbulb Fires when ..." - Gary Hizer, Urban Tulsa Weekly
  
  “[Flashbulb Fires] combine atmospheric soundscapes with rock melodies, vocal harmonies and sometimes sardonic, sometimes tortured lyrics. The results are stealthily arresting." – Mario Tarradell, Dallas Morning News
  
  "When McGuire sings lead…he is the perfect mix of tenacity and naiveté." - Tansy Maude Peregrine, The Huffington Post
  
  "[Glory] is a near-immaculate pop-effort in the style of Phantom Planet, Grizzly Bear and maybe even a little early Radiohead..." – Cory Kibler, Star City Blog
  
  "Glory's harmonies are undauntedly layered with richly orchestrated horns that could come straight from the heavens and vocal harmonies sweet enough to be sung in any choir." – Dave Herrera, Denver Westword
  
  "Glory will make you run until you run out of breath.” – David Kurtz, Bocumast.com
  “[Glory] boasts am impressive array of sounds and textures." – Darryl Smyers, Dallas Observer
  
  "It is a testament to the band’s creativity that they can be as eccentric as they are without sounding the same song after song." - PresentMagazine.com
  
  “[Patrick McGuire] bleeds his conflicted spirituality into the sidewalk cracks of suburban drudgery, a style lifelike and poetic. Results are modern and American, self-aware and self-assured.” – Jarrett Fontaine, The Reader
  
  "Vocalist Patrick McGuire has a comfortable timbre that gives his singing an earnestness without ever tipping into twee excess, and his lyrics are vibrant throughout …” - OneTrackMind.com
  
  “While the music is stirring in its own right, that emotional place is the direct result of lead singer Patrick McGuire’s impassioned, often tortured, lyrical narratives." – Joshua Boydston, Oklahoma Gazette
  
  “[Glory] is a massive arrangement with countless layers — a real score, rather than a collection of tracks.” – Brian F Johnson, Marquee Magazine
  
  “Emotional and engulfing, Glory is a wall-of-sound song cycle." –Dallas Morning News
  
  "Bands with designs on commercial success often remove anything resembling a personality from their work in an attempt to broaden their appeal. So credit Flashbulb Fires with coming up with material that's extremely accessible without succumbing to blandness." - Michael Roberts, Denver Westword
  
  ?"Flashbulb Fires has woven a fantastic tapestry of music: please, ambitious, please is simply one of the best pop albums this year that you won't hear on Top-40 radio, bar none." - Brandon Whitehead, KC Active
  
  ??"Does the world need another cut-and-paste piano-pop band? Probably not – and that’s what makes Flashbulb Fires so damn refreshing." - Aaron Ladage, The Pitch
  
  “…beautiful and quirky… Salvaged from spreading depths of contemplation and confusion by the fickle buoyancy of youth and young adulthood…” - Kristen, Contributing Writer Scene Point Blank
  
  “…'catchy' would be a good tag to stick them with, because all of these songs will get stuck in your head for large portions of the day.” – Eric Loranger, Antimusic.com
  
  “[The band] really knows how to draw listeners in with pulsating and melodic masterpieces, which develop into full blown rock orchestrations. Flashbulb Fires keeps you guessing, and whether you're a piano-rock fan or not, Flashbulb Fires might make you one of theirs.” – Brian Farnsworth, Colorado Music Buzz Magazine
  
  “The Flashbulb Fires performances are like living projects, always breathing, always growing, always changing. Every show brings on new lessons and new methods to more accurately portray their sound.” – Penseyeview.com
  
  “Flashbulb Fires, certainly fashions a vibrant suit that is both enticing and personal.” – Instrumental Analysis
  
  “The foursome's blend of exceptional and ambitious musical performances and earnest, emotional, passionate lyrics leave listeners wanting more and wondering what this band will do next. [Flashbulb Fires] is refreshing in the sea of hundreds of generic indie rock bands in the music industry today…” – Valley Scene Magazine, Los Angeles
  
  

• VOTED BEST INDIE POP BAND OF 2010 by Denver Westword
  

  Flashbulb Fires was voted best indie pop band of 2010 in a readers poll by Denver Westword magazine

Setlist

Standard Set (all original material - no particular order):

1. Cult Life
2. Dark Ghost (I've Got Arms)
3. The Whale
4. I Beat My Body Down
5. Serious Way
6. Marathon
7. Holy War, Bitter Prophets
8. Sleep Money Dawn
9. Rope and River
10. Ambulance
11. Revenge Song

Basic Requirements

PDF Rider

Flashbulb Fires Rider

Calendar