So you thought New Jersey was just about pollution and tolls? WRONG. Jersey has The Boss, Bon Jovi, My Chemical ROMANCE, and now Flashlight Arcade.

Following in the footsteps of My Chemical Romance, New Jersey borne Flashlight Arcade will release their debut CD called “The Art of Blacking Out.” The band is led by legendary ex-front man for One4One - Dan Murray. FLASHLIGHT ARCADE mixes sounds similar to Jimmy Eat World and Jawbreaker, yet adding their own unique touch of class.

The opening track “The Sun Never Shines on the Bowery” is getting a huge amount of airplay around the world and is an outstanding song. Murray’s vocals have that nuance/vibe/ of either loving him or hating him; I particularly like the vocals. Track-two “Homeroom Politics” opens with a short melody of acoustic guitar breaking into full throttle power chords and those crunching vocals.  “The Fastest Car on Earth” is a great song showing the balance of the band.

FA demonstrates at times that they can change the direction in their music running the gamut from hardcore power punk music to slow and melodic. The band is definitely made up of high energy band members. They must be having fun because it shows in their music. Track-eight “Dead to the World” is another good tune that highlights drummer Jay Carlin’s rolling drumming and  guitarist Rajon Tumboken sounding like The Edge (U2).

This is a tremendous debut for these Jersey boys!