Anyone remotely affiliated with CL meets their fair share of up-and-coming artists, but I think most readers would be surprised at how few of them actually follow through on the opportunity to have their music reviewed and the possibility of having something written about them, whether it be good or bad. I'm not saying flood our inboxes but a simple, 'Hey, check this out' from artists around town every now and then is appreciated.

This Local Leak comes from a Charlotte band, The Flash Alchemy. Formerly A Flash of Alchemy, the band recently swapped names and a few members and now consists of Reid Clayton on vocals and rhythm guitar, Phillip Gripper on drums and backing vocals, Tom Maxim on lead guitar and Henry Killian on bass and keys. I met their drummer randomly bar-hopping and he shot me a link to their latest song and you know what, I appreciate the hustle to hit me up sooner, not 10 months later.

Pour Me Poison <-- Click to listen.

The first time I played "Pour Me Poison" I had to double check and make sure the breakup montage of a Rom Com wasn't on, because I totally felt like I was going to look up and see Ryan Reynolds walking by himself through Central Park, in the rain. Some rough vocals and sound but it's not bad, it actually made me think of The Fray.

You can check these guys them out live on April 16 at the Salvador Deli Gallery Crawl in NoDa and April 21 at Dharma Lounge with Cement Stars and April 25 at The Milestone with La Strada.

Leave some feedback and if you're a local band, don't be shy, send some NEW links this way (especially if you're rap, soul or R&B, since that's kinda my lane). Don't get discouraged or send pissy e-mails if we don't get around to your music as speedy as you'd like either. Things get kinda hectic.