Review Summary: More of Inviting Light.
The Flatliners had a controversial stint in the form of Inviting Light. Me, I quite liked it, so it's no surprise I liked Mass Candescence as well, the three-track EP that they announced a week before release.
It begins with The Arousal of Repair and has Chris Cresswell restrained, few screams and more reminiscent of classic rock. Mostly, the chorus drags the song down, lacking much lyrical substance but repeating the same boring lines. The song's at its best during the bridge, where he proclaims, "I don't think you keep your promises, now. I only feel you twisting the how, the where, the why, the what about, (man, thought I was livin') the ways I've let me down," to a solid rhythmic guitar riff. Enjoyable but unpolished, 3/5.
Next comes Moves Too Quickly, which grew and slid to my favorite spot. The track's instrumentation sounds more like a b-side from the Division of Spoils (amusing since that album itself conglomerated a whole set of songs that never made the cut). He displays more grit in his voice than any other song in the album, playing to the band's strength. The lyrics center around the period of one's life right after an awful event occurred, the flood of relief and dribble of anger that must both be discarded away. "Can we just cut the *** and let it lay a waste?" he asks, finally at settling into a safe place but unsettled all the same. Interesting and original, 4/5.
Wide Eyes has the most sentiment in it, focusing on the band's relationship to a close friend, commanding and pleading him to "stay where you are." Despite emulating some of the more boring parts of Inviting Light, Chris Cresswell sounds the most genuine in this song, which carries its emotional core enough to keep me interested. Unremarkable but authentic, 4/5.
Now, the band needs to correct its godawful production before I would round up a 3.6 average to a 4. Cresswell easily has one of the best voices in all of punk rock, but Dine Alone Records decided to lace his songs with horrendous distortion ever since Inviting Light. They should prize his voice, ease it the same freedom that Fat Wreck Records gave it in the Flatliners' best albums like Dead Language and Cavalcade. New effects does not translate to maturity.
