Flatfoot

(2 writers chose us among their best of 2004)

Flatfoot — “The Legend of Big Sid”
by Jonathon Britton

Flatfoot must have conjured the dark lords of the rock ‘n’ roll underworld, because its sophomore release is dirty, unpolished, sloppy, beautiful rock at its best. The Bales brothers howl their way through 11 of the murkiest lilting country rock tracks, chock full o’ murder, love, hate, regret, villains, heroes and more. One of the strongest tracks, “Big Sid,” kicks off with a rousing Stones-esque build up that gives way to the hard-driving, bouncy tale of an Appalachian Frankenstein who murders and dismembers his victims before morphing into a freak Steinbeckian heroine in the end. The Tom McCarton-penned “Punched out eye” is definitely one of the best vocal tracks on the record and Aaron Bales sheds a brief tear when he tells us about love lost with Dead Hollow Tree. Flatfoot covers a lot of ground on “Bid Sid,” offering up lively little ditties and mournfully sad ballads. This record is honest to goodness rock without all of the bells and whistles, and goddamn if there isn’t a little rock ‘n’ roll cowbell sprinkled throughout.

Flatfoot - The Legend of Big Sid
by Todd McKenzie

If you listen very closely to this album, you just might hear the sound of cowboy bootheels creaking as Aaron Bales cocks an eyebrow, dips his head in and approaches the microphone with lips snarled, while his younger brother Jason collects obscene amounts of sweat in his red bandit bandana. This is the album everyone knew Flatfoot could make: the solid young men all grown up with tales of gun-slinging bravado, dusty-trailed lamentations and toe-tapping beerhall sing-a-longs. In fact, "The Legend of Big Sid" so closely captures the rush and thrust of a Flatfoot live show that I can smell booze on my breath as I follow the infectious, robust choruses (which is only sometimes a hallucination).

This record is awash in flash floods of slide guitar and melodies so big it seems unreasonable that they could come from anyone but Titans. Beside the rhythmically hipshot guitar duels that dance expertly in step with Erik Miller’s fancy rock ‘n’ roll drumming, "Big Sid" is full of recording surprises: Look no further than the subtle barbershop baa-ba-baas on "Sleep All Day" for evidence of mastery of the craft of songwriting. These boys are standing tall this year, and "Big Sid" is just the smoking gun of all their rowdy twang ways.

- Lansing City Pulse

Review by Zac Johnson

Tearing big holes in the speakers, Flatfoot rockets through 11 country-fried tracks of heartbreak, ghost stories, and first loves. With their debut release, Down in the Cellar, the band proved that they could write a great gritty hook, but their decidedly lo-fi approach didn't fully get the message across. On The Legend of Big Sid, that problem has been corrected and the resulting album is a terrific collection of down and dirty country songs as performed by the Sticky Fingers-era Rolling Stones.

The title track recounts a local legend of a man burned in a sawdust blaze who is driven mad by the tamperings of modern medicine and breaks free to haunt a nearby summer camp forever. While this kind of campfire storytelling could sound goofy or unintentionally dramatic, Flatfoot gives it the appropriate amount of stomp and thunder, turning it into a grisly Michigan tall tale along the lines of Paul Bunyan and his big blue ox. The cautionary tale "Sleep All Day" pleads with the listener to get out of bed and make something of their life; "Punched Out Eye" relives fevered memories of a fumbling first love, and the barrel-riding "Love You So Much" rockets down the mountain like Gram Parsons all hopped up on bennies trying to steer an 18 wheeler with the brake lines cut.

Overall, the album pulls the air out of your lungs with its intensity, mixing up Buffalo Springfield, Faces, Flying Burrito Brothers, Willie Dixon, Terry Melcher, and a case of Strohs. With this release Flatfoot takes their already good thing and makes it better, providing the perfect soundtrack for summertime drives and closing times. - All Music Guide

(excerpt of article by Cale Sauter)

Whatever you want to call it, one thing you could never accuse Flatfoot of is being boring. The band’s no-nonsense charisma and dedication to sticking to its guns and continuing to play “honest music” sets it apart somewhat from the recent wave of twang bands in the Lansing and Detroit areas. Seeing the band live, the last thing that comes to mind is somber country tunes. Flatfoot is rock ‘n’ roll — drummer Erik Miller and bassist Jeremy Whitman make sure of that with up-tempo rhythm.

That’s not to say guitarist/vocalist brothers Aaron and Jason Bales can’t bust out an acoustic guitar and some heartbreak if prompted, but lately, live Flatfoot has been all about out-rocking the competition — knees and elbows flailing wildly and somebody (it doesn’t seem to matter who) howling a campfire tale gone wrong into the microphone.

Flatfoot, however, is not all on-stage bravado. The boys have managed to collect a set of songs that play somewhat like a concept album based on Michigan folklore and other Americana-styled muses. These tracks were released this past summer on the band’s second full-length, “The Legend of Big Sid.” The album has garnered nothing but positive press thus far. It shows the band in a slightly more upbeat mood than its first effort, “Down in the Cellar,” which contained a more classic outlaw country approach.
- Lansing City Pulse

(excerpt of article by Lindsey Anderson)

The Legend of Big Sid" has so much energy bursting from each song it makes the album a waterfall of enjoyable, upbeat music…Flatfoot doesn't want people to stay flat on their feet. In fact, the album screams to keep the foot tapping and then makes the legs dance. Those legs better be able to keep dancing for the entirety of the album, too. - State News