It’s a pretty gutsy move to call the title track on your new EP “Don’t Take Me Seriously.” But that’s par for the course for Florida power-pop-punk foursome Flashlights.
The band got its starts as a solo acoustic project for frontman Terry Caudill way back in the heady days of 2007. The one-man show quickly swelled and shifted. Today Caudill is joined by Tony Oriza (guitar), Will Powell (bass) and drummer Melissa Hopkins. With the lineup set, they released the nine-song full-length I’m Not Alone in 2011. More sweet than snotty, The record is a minty-fresh blast of crunchy, punky pop. The band supported Scottish indie-rockers Frightened Rabbit on some East Coast dates this past fall.
This month they’re back with a new EP, and a freshly inked deal with Hard Rock Records (yes, that Hard Rock). The record’s title track (mentioned up top) opens up with some razor-sharp, banging punk, but, like a door opening, the song exhales into technicolor indie-pop with just a bit of bite. Frontman Caudill delivers his vocals with wounded innocence. When he shouts, you know he’s shouting from a place of truth, and when he ends the song by repeating the line, “Most of the time, I feel like I’m no one,” you know you have to take him seriously.
