If Fluid Lines sent in a bio or press release, I can’t bloody well find it. To be honest that’s pretty indicative of the band as a whole, because they blend in with literally every other demo I’ve reviewed in the past week. Over the course of three songs you have another New Found Glory/Blink 182 clone who have a few songs and a few decent bits, but are ultimately let down by piss poor production and a lack of sparkle. In short, this band could be any of the local plodders on the toilet circuit. It seems irrelevant that I don’t actually know anything about them.
Everything is as you would expect through songs like ‘98%’ – there’s perky pop-punk riffs and a decent stab at creating some melodies and harmonies. But this record is really let down by the production. Remember back when you were a kid and taped your favourite songs off the radio, way back before the advent of the MP3 (or the internet!)? The radio station wasn’t quite on stereo and there would be a warm fuzz in the background. Then, after several players, the quality of the tape would rapidly diminish. Well, this is what this CD sounds like – worn and well used. It’s only on the Symposium-esque ‘Hear This’ that things break from the mould. But even then there’s not too much to get excited about. 5/10 is the perfect score for this record because it’s all very average. There may be something here for the future, but as it stands their anonymity is rather apt.
Paul