THE FLASHCUBES WITH MIKE GENT: Reminisce

This is a bit of enthusiastic hype I wrote on behalf of my favorite new track of 2025, "Reminisce" by the Flashcubes. "Reminisce" was the first track and first advance digital single from my passion project Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes. Hey! There's a video for it, too! 

"Reminisce" also earned a berth on my all-time Hot 125, so it's safe to say I kinda dig it.

The Ramones remembered rock 'n' roll radio. KISS vowed to rock and roll all night. The Bay City Rollers promised a rock 'n' roll love letter. Power Pop Hall of Famers THE FLASHCUBES were there, and they saw it all. And now? They wanna reminisce.

From the bright lights/small city of Syracuse, NY, THE FLASHCUBES burst onto the music scene in 1977, influenced equally by '70s punk and '60s British Invasion, pure rock 'n' roll and the shared crucible of AM Top 40 radio when AM Top 40 radio friggin' ruled. THE FLASHCUBES burned a hole through the roof of every dingy or glitzy club they ever played. They shared the stage with everyone from the Ramones and the Runaways to the Romantics, the Jam, and Eddie and the Hot Rods. They wrote original songs (including their much-anthologized 1978 single "Christi Girl") that lived up to the flash of their inspirations, and that incandescent flash led to the 2025 various-artists compilation album Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, gathering classic Flashcubes tunes as covered by the likes of Graham Parker with Mike Gent, the Verbs (featuring Megan Voss and Steve Jordan) Sorrows, Tom Kenny and the Hi-Seas, the Spongetones, the Peppermint Kicks, the Kennedys, and other stalwarts of indie rockin' pop. The Flashcubes of 2025 are the same four guys as the 1977 model: Force-of-nature drummer/producer TOMMY ALLEN, guitarist/provocateur PAUL ARMSTRONG, bassist/pure pop visionary GARY FRENAY, and guitarist/freewheelin' dreamer ARTY LENIN. The Flashcubes, bless 'em, recorded three new songs for their own tribute album, because who in their right mind would even try to stop them?

"Reminisce" was written by Flashcubes guitarist Paul Armstrong, and recorded by the 'Cubes with special guest Mike Gent of the Figgs. The rock rolls like it's still 1977 at CBGB's or Max's Kansas City, and the lyrics look back in wonder at the heady buzz of the Flashcubes' blinding brilliance under the bright lights in the late '70s. The music struts and commands like a Flashcubes song oughta, and the chorus is just magnificent, jaw-dropping, a compelling incitement to raise the ol' fist and be there like you wuz there. And if you were there, "Reminisce" reminds you what it was like. Hey-ho. Let's GO. It's reminiscing time. Come on, let's rock 'n' roll with THE FLASHCUBES!

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I compiled a various-artists tribute album called Make Something Happen! A Tribute To The Flashcubes, and it's pretty damned good; you can read about it here and order it here. My new book The Greatest Record Ever Made! (Volume 1) is now available, and you can order an autographed copy here. You can still get my previous book Gabba Gabba Hey! A Conversation With The Ramones from publisher Rare Bird Books, OR an autographed copy here. If you like the books, please consider leaving a rating and/or review at the usual online resources.

This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio with Dana & Carl airs Sunday nights from 9 to Midnight Eastern, on the air in Syracuse at SPARK! WSPJ 103.3 and 93.7 FM, streaming at SPARK stream and on the Radio Garden app as WESTCOTT RADIO. You can read about our history here.