2012 – Flatfoot 56 – Toil

So yesterday was St. Paddy’s day. The jukebox at your local bar cant hold another dollar, you’ve played every Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys song at least three times each. You’ve gone far enough to play a bunch of House of Pain songs. Enter Flatfoot 56.

Flatfoot 56 exists in a similar genre as our favorite Irish rockers. A hint of punk, and a dash of bagpipes makes for an enjoyable sound. They are also a Christian Rock band – which, I know, will imemediately turn some people off. But when 90% of people say “I don’t listen to the lyrics,” I don’t know why they suddenly do when it’s Christian music?? The complaint never made sense to me.

Anyway, the good news is the Flatfoot 56 isn’t one of those bands who wanted to jump on the bandwagon. The band formed in 2003. The first note of the first track of their first album begins with bagpipes. They knew what they wanted to be and went straight for it. The downside? After listening to Rumble Of 56, The Sounds of the Midway EP, and Toil, I haven’t found tracks that jumped out at me. The music is good… but none of it is great. Nothing made me go back and listen to that one song again, right away. With a lot of albums, I like to listen all the way through before hearing any song a second time. And that’s okay – but when a song really grabs your attention so much that you immediately want to hear it again? That’s a good sign. Nothing from Flatfoot 56 really had that.

So today’s recommendation comes with, honestly, a little bit of a “it might not wow you” warning, but that’s okay. The point is it’s something different, and still enjoyable. Give Flatfoot 56 a listen! You can start with their latest release, Toil.