Misc. Day – A Blind Stab

The Flex is a hardcore punk band from Leeds, they draw inspiration from the heavy hitters of punk like Minor Threat, Black Flag, and even a little of Bad Religion, to bring a new era of aggression into the foreground. Their message, that they don’t need you but you sure as hell need them.

Wild Stabs In The Dark was released on Milk Run Records (U.K.) and Video Disease Records (U.S.), it brought a new wave of punk music onto a new generation of people. The Flex is just one of those bands that have such a tight sound and so much energy to each song that it is hard not to break everything in sight within the first listen.

Spanning only about twenty minutes, Wild Stabs In The Dark is the perfect length for this style of music, its fast, destructive, and most of all fun. I just had so much of a great time listening to this and it is surprising to see that The Flex is not shown more love online or around the United States. This is most definitely an underground punk record and The Flex is still on their way up from the flats and apartments in England to the festivals and stadiums they deserve. This could also relate to how The Flex is still a newer band, as their first release The Demo sprouted online in 2012, so they still have plenty of time to start playing more and more shows as time goes on.

Wild Stabs in The Dark has that classic punk sound, and after seeing some of The Flex’s live concerts they look like the energy levels are at an all time high, as crowd surfing, mosh pits, and stage diving all takes place in these small basement like shows that look barely able to support the raging crowd.

The Flex consists of five separate members and their names might be the most interesting part, The Boots is the vocalist and can be heard screaming over Foxy Bingo and The Egg Man on guitar. Bones is the bass player and can be found creating a banging rhythm section with Pimdog who is the drum player. Together they make up the personality of The Flex and create some of the more laughable persona names. The names do not coincide with their sound at all as The Egg Man and Foxy Bingo are two things that I would never expect to hear as they rip apart their instruments and slam down some pounding chords over the rest of The Flex.

The Flex while destructive and overly aggressive, still show structure and a spine to their music. Their attitude is certainly the best part of their presence and songs like “Left To Die” and “Waste My Time” have these quick, breakneck speed riffs along with pounding drums, but they also have these really sweet breakdowns that give the mosh pit a rest and allow for some much needed downtime. They break up the action as in the near twenty minutes that Wild Stabs In The Dark lasts, each song flows into the next and does not really allow for much relaxation in between tracks. This adds to the rapid fire attack that is The Flex and it allows them to go into the situation with a get in and get out style that is still so prevalent in punk music today as it was so long ago.

Wild Stabs In The Dark is available for free on The Flex’s Bandcamp so there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to check out this band. A really great band from the U.K. and a really great hardcore band overall.