The Flexibles consist of Glasgow-based experimental music veteran
Richard Youngs, his pre-pubescent son Sorley, and frequent collaborator Andrew Paine. Their songs are improvised collisions of electronic drums, noisy guitar feedback, and Sorley's free-associative rantings and stories. In some ways, their music seems like a 21st century update of early
Half Japanese (or the Stinkypuffs, the '90s band fronted by
Jad Fair's then-stepson Simon Fair Timony), but instead of railing against
Beatlemania or expressing the anxiety of being around girls, Sorley tells tales about outer space expeditions and outlandish dreams that are indiscernible from reality. On "When I Was 86," he talks about coming to earth and realizing he was never awake. Several songs mention spaceships, "future space architecture," and even a "solar panel system." The title track states that anything can be pink, and repeats several things that are, including
Pink Floyd. The group categorize themselves as punk rock, and there are plenty of moments that ramp up the tempo; "Arcosta Future" even opens with an excited count-off before the racing electronic drums and fuzzy guitars enter. Closing track "Black Hours" is thrashier, and has more of a digital grind to it. Unlike '80s pre-teen punks Old Skull, there's no political motivation here, and Sorley never seems angry. He seems more like a kid equivalent of Mark E. Smith than someone who would sport a mohawk and a jacket covered with pins and patches.
Pink Everything is an amusing, candy-powered album that ignores the commonly accepted standards in the steadfast belief that anything is possible. ~ Paul Simpson