The Flaws

‘a sumptuous slice of classy pop rock’ Jackie Hayden Hot Press

‘Such grace and elegance doesn’t come without the careful nurturing of creative aspirations’ Jackie
Hayden Hot Press

Constant Adventure…………….’is a hugely confident step forward……..’ Lauren Murphy Irish Times
***

‘a serious of delightful radio friendly pop songs that ………..sound fresh and beguiling’, Eamon Carr
The Herald

‘The Flaws deserve to be heard’, Eamon Carr The Herald - The Flaws

THE FLAWS
Achieving Vagueness
Arrivals Records
**** (4/5)

Dundalk is home to The Corrs,
but it's also been the stomping
ground of The Flaws, and not a
fiddle or a diddle in sight. The
quartet hail from various parts
of Monaghan and Louth, but they
cut their teeth playing gigs in
Dundalk's Spirit Store,
graduating from indie no-marks
to serious alt. rock contenders.
Spirit Store proprietor Derek
Turner saw something special
going on here and took The Flaws
under his wing, leading them
through an abortive major label
deal and into Grouse Lodge to
record this mature, accomplished
debut with producer Gareth
Mannix.

Treading a fine line between
Mum-rock earnestness and
Killers-style pretentiousness, the
band find themselves in a very
respectable middle ground,
coming across as not too shallow
but not too up themselves either.
Opening track You and I sets the
scene with crafty confidence,
singer and lyricist Paul Finn
stepping forward and voicing the
band's collective vision with
admirable skill and restraint.
SLow Dance may tap the
shoulders of that elegantly flawed
Dublin four-piece, U2,but No
Room, 1981, Sixteen and Idolise
are closer to the lean, streamlined
sound of The Immediate and
Delorentos. And when they do
remind you of bands past, it tends
to be the good 'uns, such as Echo
& the Bunnymen and NewOrder.
These days, any bunch of
chancers can knock off an album
in their parents' garage and put
themselves on Bebo, but it takes a
band with a little more fire in their
bellies and a lot more ideas in the
bank to make as creditable a
debut as this one. A flawed gem
indeed.
- Kevin Courtney - The Ticket

The Flaws: Achieving Vagueness
Arrivals Records
****(4/5)


The border counties are
often associated with
brooding landscapes and
small-town ennui. Maybe
that's set to change however, thanks to
Carrickmacross four-piece The Flaws,
whose debut album is a fantastic mash-up
of Byrds jangle rock and Interpol goth-pop.
The band explode out of the traps with You
And I, a lilting slice of indie dreaminess
that glides on glittering guitars. Elsewhere,
the single 1981 demonstrates their mastery
of slow-burn balladry while Out Tonight
weaves a timeless tale of teen disaffection.
Hitting between a world-weary croon and a
yearning lilt, vocalist Paul Finn is the
group's secret weapon, beautifully
articulating the frustration and yearning of
provincial life. 'Instant classic' is a
hackneyed phrase but, in the case of The
Flaws, feels entirely deserved. - Eamon de Paor

‘No Room’ is majestic -
- Hotpress

THE FLAWS
Achieving Vagueness
(Arrivals Records)
***** (4/5)
ON THE face of it,the Flaws' debut album doesn't
sound promising. Here's yet another band offering
their take on post-punk. It's the
decade's most prevalentinfluence and it started
getting tiresome three years ago.

And yet, the Monaghan band's self-released
album is a thrilling statement of intent with a
handful of tracks that come close to greatness.
It's the best album released by an Irish act this year.
Its secret comes from the fact that frontman
Paul Finn and his three mates understand that
magic can be gleaned from the place where punk
rock meets pop.
Songs like Out Tonight boasts fantastically
insistent guitars, a marvellous marriage of drums
and bass and earnest vocals.
It flies by in three giddy minutes and when the
final bars have finished, you want to hear it all
over again.
Sixteen is typical of many of the songs here.
Its synthy, Killers-like will appeal to theindie kids
as well as the radio playtist directors.
It manages that neat trickof sounding familiar
and fresh at the same time.
One of the album's standouts, 1981 - the year
of the members' birth - boasts the sort of guitar rock that U2 were
making that year.
The opening part of NoRoom could well have
been an outtake from the Boy sessions of the
best part of three decades ago, yetit doesn't
sound in anyway like a pastiche.
The Flaws have had their fairshare of industry
woes and have been on the domestic circuit now
for the best part of three years, which seems to
have led to a tighter harnessing of the sound they
are after.
At times, Finn's vocals drift into mid-Atlantic
territory and SlowDance - oneof two
downtempo songs here - doesn't really come off
as well as it might.
But, ultimately Achieving Vagueness isthe
sort of calling card that most young bands can
only dream of. - John Magher

Frankly, you have to see these young guys to get a glimpse of how good Irish music could be in 2007’.

Tony Clayton Lea - Jan '07 - Irish Times

The Flaws are a band of their time, brought up on the new wave surge of the early 80s and led to a place where the abrasion of punk meets the melodies of pop… Opening with the full throttle “Out Tonight”, they ripped through their set with the energy of a bomb disposal unit…

Peter Crawley - Irish Times

Frankly, you have to see these young guys to get a glimpse of how good Irish music could be in 2007’.

Tony Clayton Lea - Jan '07 - Irish Times

This slab of vibrant pop punk is bursting with youthful energy’ - The Star

The four piece have emerged as a tight punk-pop act, with songs that eloquently marry aggression and melody… The Flaws passionate pretension-free sound sets them apart… - Metro

This slab of vibrant pop punk is bursting with youthful energy’ - The Star

Exciting pop punk - expect fireworks - The Ticket

Exciting pop punk - expect fireworks - The Ticket