0696998613225. Pre-Owned: Good condition. CD. Signed to Epic records in the wake of their triumph on VH1's Bands on the Run series, Flickerstick's debut album, Welcoming Home the Astronauts, is a ready-for-prime-time record. However, the band's strengths and weaknesses are apparent. Lead singer Brandin Lea exhibits an appealing lyrical persona, that of an anxious young small-time guy navigating uncertainly through the dating scene. He tries wearing his heart on his sleeve, but when that doesn't work, he finds himself suggesting "Chloroform the One You Love." He longs to escape, but doesn't want to sell his record collection. (We've all been there, haven't we?) And when he talks about his ambitions, his girlfriend puts him down: "You're So Hollywood." The music that supports these reflections sometimes soars, especially when Cory Kreig breaks out the E-Bow and makes like Big Country ("Beautiful"), but it is often earthbound due to the deliberate tempos and frequently plodding rhythm section. The sequencing buries some of the better and faster tunes near the end, which makes the record take a while to get going. But there's a terrific little rock & roll band in the making here, and even if that band occasionally turns indulgent, their flaws are fixable and their frontman is on to something. ~ William Ruhlmann, Rovi