Flasher at the Sebright Arms

Arriving at the Sebright Arms there are two attractions: Flasher, a band… and an in-house pool tournament. It quickly becomes clear which is the greater draw once one sees where the white ball keeps going.

The basement of the Sebright is the kind of venue that rewards joyful and sweaty dysfunction in a band, rather than well-composed immersive excellence. Flasher do not quite manage either – while hinting they are capable of both.

Opener I Saw You, from their 2022 record Love Is Yours, echoes the Stone Roses’ woozy indie psychedelia with prominent basslines. Then there’s a detour into their punkier 2018 debut album, Constant Image, with tracks XYZ and Who’s Got Time.

Having started life as a trio in Washington DC, Flasher are now a duo made up of drummer Emma Baker and guitarist Taylor Mulitz. With all due respect to the latter, it’s Baker who is perhaps the star attraction – she draws the eye and the ear with her energetic rhythms, and even steps forward to co-front the band at one point.

New material Hands On and Adrienne takes matters in a more wistful direction. However, it’s Eastern Ave that’s the standout from their latest EP, providing an upbeat spin on the mundanity of heartbreak with its lyrics about how leftover soap and clothes remind one of a departed lover. Then there’s the funky and dreamy Sideways – possibly their most poppy effort. 

Still Life and Little Things marry their rock roots with the more synth-laden, psychedelic direction they are clearly headed in. Those roots are returned to with thumping closers Pressure and Skim Milk. The former is another highlight, sounding as it does like a song by an oblique 80s post-punk band.

It’s a good gig, but one can’t help but feel the group are slightly undersold by the sound. It matches the punkier numbers but doesn’t quite allow their newer, more ambitious tracks to percolate and become immersive. Yet there is still more than enough to get a willing crowd going; there’s clearly something to Flasher, even if  Sebright patrons maybe didn’t quite see it in all its glory.

The result is a gig that’s something like a pool tournament: impressive and fun at times, but ultimately doesn’t perhaps quite show what the players are capable of on a larger stage. That would require a snooker table or a venue bigger than the Sebright Arms.

Mark Worgan
Photos: Virginie Viche

For further information and future events visit Flasher’s website here.

Watch the video for the single Sideways here: