The Flatliners hail from Toronto, Canada and The Great Awake is their second full-length. By the Fat Wreck Chords connection, you can certainly expect this, in the most general of descriptions, to be punk music. And sure enough, The Flatliners offer up twelve punk anthems to cause a ruckus to on this album.
However, The Flatliners aren't your run-of-the-mill punk band. Sure, they show influence from the oi-punk Westcoast bands, and they also prominently feature the raging punk of the Eastcoast. But The Flatliners mix it up, occasionally drawing from a slightly different watering hole; there are hints of ska/reggae - "This Respirator" - and even dashes of hardcore - This is Giving Up" - heard here and there. These give the album a little versatility and keep it from being a monotonous listening experience.
The Great Awake is a lot better than I thought it was going to be. I usually stay away from the majority of the punk world as it's fairly one-dimensional in its ranting about the political system and simplistic songs. After listening to this album, I can add The Flatliners to my short list of current punk bands I can stomach.
