The Flaws: back from the brink of extinction

Groove Tube with Jimi McDonnell

The Flaws play Monroe’s this Friday, as part of the venue’s Roctober Weekender. As well as gems like Sixteen, the alt-rock quartet will be showcasing tracks from their upcoming third album. The band started recording Springtime For The Flaws in 2013, but have had to delay its release until February next year.

“Unfortunately, it had to go on the back boiler,” says lead singer and guitarist Paul Finn. “A few life things came up for some of us, and we had to put it aside for a while. Then earlier on this year we said ‘let’s get a plan together.’ Normal life had resumed, I suppose.”

Back in July, The Flaws released the superb Animals as a preview of their new material. In the blurb that came with it, the band mention ‘secret band break ups.’ Did they really happen?

“Most definitely, yeah,” says Paul. “We called it a day back in 2012. We were at the glass ceiling, getting nowhere, and it was hard to keep pushing on. Of course, we were disheartened by things in the past.”

“But we said ‘why are we doing this?’” he continues. “‘We all love writing songs, let’s just do it for that.’ And that’s exactly why we’re doing it. We work together well; it’s just so much fun writing songs. The craft, as they call it. That’s what stopped us from completely calling it a day – although we did for a while.”

Animals is the sound of a band renewed, and a very arresting piece of music. How did it come about?

“The writing usually comes from myself or Shane [Malone], or a mixture of the both of us,” Paul says. “I think I was over in his house for a drink late one Thursday night, listening to Snoop Dogg. We had an idea for a song, and worked on it for a few hours. That was basically it.”

Springtime… was recorded in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan.  It was very much a DIY affair, yet The Flaws have lost none of their slick sound.

“A few years ago, we built a studio out the back of my house in the middle of nowhere,” Paul says. “We never properly used it to record an album, but this time around we said why not? It’s there, we have great equipment.”

“We got our great friend Jason Varley, who’s always worked with us before, to help record it. It was all done in the back of the shed we built, which we lovingly refer to as Studio A/B.”

It’s been almost 4 years since the last Flaws record. Is Paul proud of what they’ve done this time around?

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.