Fischer's Flicker: Open 28 Hours

Album number seven for the outfit that have morphed through many incarnations to become Fishers Flicker and who have been everything from a corporate cover band to major festival performers. Titled Open 28 Hours, this latest offering from the double F lives up to its name, trying to squeeze everything and more into its limited time; various styles galloped across and melded into the Flicker style. Eclectic these Chicagoans are, and yet there's a surprisingly cohesive feel about what they do. At times progressive and funky, at times retro rocking while adding a psych shove. There's much more than meets the eye at first glance and much depth to what you encounter. As you might expect that means that not everything hits with the same fervour and in places you wonder if things are stretched too far, while at other points the question can become more about whether there's enough to keep you truly engaged.

For the most part however, the vivacious energy and passionate displays do more than enough to prevent the slow build and eventually grittily grooved "Smoke Signals" from burning out, or somehow to make the loose cover of "3 6 9" a surprise ear snagger. However it's when this act really push hard that things click into place, "Mother Of A Ship" asking the question, what would you do if aliens offered you all you could ever ask for, in exchange for some of the human race who are merely 'taking up room' on the planet (count me in�). The story telling style that Fischer possesses taking a loose structure and making it a rip roaring romp in both music and theme. But then you also have to struggle through the two minutes of distorted bump and grind of "Father To The Sun", which while a short penance, does work hard at diminishing the enthusiasm somewhat.

That's really the story here for me, when Open 28 Hours hits its mark, then the results are explosive and memorable; the opening pairing of the funaklicious "The In-Betweener" and much more straight forward Americana pop groove of "You & Everybody" impossible to ignore in all the right ways. Whereas "Sensi-Mental" and "Zen" can too often feel meandering and directionless. In fairness the good far outweighs the not so good, the problem being more that just as you think you've grasped this album's vibe, so its slips through your fingers and makes room for something less rewarding. The more adventurous out there who still want some strong rock n' roll markers to keep your bearings will definitely find a lot to enjoy � and so will everyone else, just maybe not as a start to finish exercise.

Track Listing
1. The In-Betweener
2. You & Everybody
3. No More Looking Back
4. 3 6 9
5. Spiders
6. Sensi-Mental
7. Smoke Signals
8. Farther to the Sun
9. Mother of a Ship
10. Zen

Added: May 6th 2018
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Fischers Flicker online
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Language: english

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