Flash Boys

From the instant I pushed the play button, I knew I was going to love this debut CD from Austin's Flash Boys. This, ladies and gentlemen, is fucking PUNK ROCK! You hear a lot of these bands doing a Dolls/Heartbreakers/Dead Boys type thing, and too often they come off like second or third rate copies of the Genuine Article. Not so with the Flash Boys. The group's debut is not a knockoff of L.A.M.F. or Young, Loud & Snotty, but rather the kind of album that could have come from the same time and totally held its own amongst such distinguished company. Sure, the approach is quite familiar. But the Flash Boys bring their own personality, their own sense of style, their own peculiar edge to it. And frankly, I hear just as much Sex Pistols and Saints influence in these songs as I do Johnny Thunders.

Being one who believes that the punk music of the '70s is pretty much the greatest music ever generated by humanity, it's a blast to hear a new group make the old style feel so fresh, vital, and thoroughly invigorating. All of them grizzled veterans of the punk world, the Flash Boys tear into their tunes with such hunger and fire that you'd swear they were sprightly kids on a mission to destroy. Singer Frankie Nowhere has charisma, strong pipes, and attitude to burn. At times you can hear bits of Iggy, Stiv, and David Jo in his delivery, but he's completely his own guy. Guitarist Jamey Simms combines the best qualities of Cheetah Chrome, James Williamson, and Steve Jones - rifling out hammering, high-powered riffs and letting loose nasty, slashing leads. Mark Douglas and Mike Dempsey make an ideal punk rhythm section, propelling the group's driving energy and holding together an attack that seems constantly on the verge of bursting into flames.

Musically, these guys bring it hard and raw, with a sound that's smothered in sleaze, doused in danger, and imbued with the scarred, snarling spirit of nail-tough oldtimer punk. From Dolls-inspired toe-tappers to massive blasts of rock a la The Dictators, the material here covers the full range of the classic punk n' roll spectrum. The cover selections - The Joneses' "Pill Box" and the Fun Things' "Savage" - leave no doubt as to where these guys are coming from. Yet it's the originals that keep me going back for more. Seriously: if you don't love songs like "Use Once and Destroy" and "Here I Go", I have to wonder if you like punk rock at all!

No doubt about it: the Flash Boys are bound to be Now Wave favorites for a long time to come. I hear they're absolutely phenomenal live. When's the East Coast tour, fellas? - Now Wave Magazine

Review by Tim Stegall

Been promising these fine young men I'd write about 'em (voluntarily) since I saw 'em a couple weeks back with the always fine Jesus Christ Superfly down at Wahoo's Fish Tacos. Time for me to put up or shut up. The Flash Boys have been alive only a little over a year, but the power and confidence they display is overwhelming. I've known the singer Frankie Nowhere since he first showed up in Austin from his native Mississippi maybe ten years back, looking a dead ringer for Darby Crash. He later ended up a bassist in The Chumps. But sometime while I was away from the city, Frankie turned into Iggy Pop.


I know it's a little too soon for anyone to be Iggy's avatar, considering the real thing is still being a little explosion before the reconstituted Stooges. But Frank is not just doing Iggy's act, he's channeling the fucker. To the point where, when he's onstage, you wonder where Iggy stops and Frankie starts. The thing is, the guy does Iggy's act with a sense of humor that Mr. Osterberg frequently lacks. I don't think Frankie's capable of taking himself seriously, especially as you see chairs and mic stands flying and he punctuates his spasms with hilarious touches like grabbing himself by his own hair and dragging himself a few feet across the stage. And this is just the spectacle.

See, the Flash Boys are no Stooges revival act, despite the frontman's schtick. This is a highly-skilled, powerful, punky rock 'n'roll act in and of themselves. Guitarist Jamey Simms manhandles his Mosrite copy with an authority that pays loud testament to his proud boast to me that he's been playing guitar professionally 20 years, and the rhythm section (ex-Cruel And Unusual bassist Mark Douglas and ex-Putdowns drummer Mike Dempsey) have unusual telepathy and reserves of power. And Frankie's own vocals are tuneful, raw and on the money. Their covers of The Joneses and Fun things really show the gameplan of the Flash Boys' originals: Sub-Dolls/Stooges/Dead Boys rock 'n' roll given a fresh jolt of energy and good humor, sounding alive and dangerous.

For days after I went to see them, I couldn't stop playing the Flash Boys' CD for the next several days. It was a fun night that left a busted ceiling fan and a couple of traumatized folding chairs in their wake, as well as a little blood on Frankie's hand from when the ceiling fan bit back. As I emerge from my funk and get back to getting out again, I can safely say that what I saw from the Riverboat Gamblers and now The Flash Boys tells me there's still a healthy garage punk scene in my hometown. And that's a good feeling.... - Tim Stegall