Regular surf-rock/reggae artists Flaxxies surprise with their latest single, a gorgeous acoustic rock ballad titled Blister. Combining the vocal chops of Benji Humphries, the bass of Chris Manning, drums of Neo Lee, and the guitar pairing of Eric Goodger on lead and Nick Tait on rhythm, these guys are cultivating a great, more diverse than one might expect sound, and a growing following. It’s understandable. They’re rather very good.

For this one, if you could envision how Poison’s Ev’ry Rose Has Its Thorn intertwined with some 2010s pop rock from the likes of Zed, Op Shop or Goodshirt, you’ll be where my fevered brow sits. This track is a gentle ode to people who have been steered in the wrong directions in life, by choice or prompting, by influence or directive. It’s a push-back against being made to be the target of someone else’s vicarious wishes. From the EPK: ‘Blister’ speaks to the twin torments of vulnerability and uncertainty that comes with the unwelcome expectations and demands adults put onto younger people as they transition from the relatively anodyne, angst-ridden teenage years to the more demanding, decision-making years of early adulthood. All too often these decisions can be inadvertently made for young adults purely because they haven’t had the chance to find out for themselves what it is they truly want to pursue, and that is a vital component to living a happy, fulfilling life.

Performance wise the band has really brought it. The guitars mesh beautifully, the acoustic guitar that introduces the orchestration sitting there ever present, even after Nick Tait switches to the electric following chorus number one. The lead parts are astute. Picked out to add and enhance overall composition, and it successfully adds emotive content. The rhythm section knows when to hit and when to whisper. An excellent overall instrumental ensemble, added to for this track by fiddle player Shimna Bridget.

Moving to the vocals. Benji has an awesome soprano, well suited I’m sure to their regular style of release. It’s definitely at home in this rock ballad style too. A really cool, rock-influenced melody, hit with cojones and feeling. The vocals are given the treatment with some impressive backing vocal layers. Vocalist Grace Kelly joined in for this. Really nicely done, and perfected to the Nth degree in the balance.

For the twiddling desk driving, we have Ryan Cruickshank producing, and Olly Harmer as sound engineer. A really top job done here. This is going to be seeing air time on The Rock, Hauraki, 95bFM, RadioActive, RDU, and I would think the mainstream stations like ZM or More FM would do well to give it a run. No vid for me to look at but it’s already on Spotify for you.

As a rock fan since I was knee high to a grasshopper, I always get a certain intangible thing inside my head somewhere when I know I’m going to keep enjoying a band. I got that listening to Blister by Flaxxies. Check it out. Summer never ends when this kind of stuff is playing.