AMERICAN PANCAKE: Bad Flamingo and the lush gritty reveals of "Fiddle"

"I know better and so do you, gasoline soaked through, I shouldn't smoke but I do, and I know better and so do you..."

The masked duo is back with their Italian Western noir atmospheres intact but on this offering, "Fiddle", I am hearing something different in Bad Flamingo's sound, a broader spatial quality to their sonics and maybe a diversion of sorts. Maybe I am imagining things. Sometimes you hear some almost undefinable quality that is more about yourself than the art you are absorbing. That being said, the production touches here feel exquisitely deep. Note that I am not saying deeper because these two amazingly talented people have consistently put out such engaging songs that have their very own signature sound.

I think I am saying that the lyrical puzzles here, the nuanced soundscapes including plucky acoustic guitar engines, pushing bass lines, organic percussions, layers of tactile western guitar embellishments, appropriately straining fiddle work and the very gritty, intimately wrought vocal performances might contain distinct differences than what I have heard previously.

Awwww, (light bulb moment), maybe it is just that Bad Flamingo have finally removed their masks (??).

-Robb Donker Curtius