XTRA
Mile Recordings
Ex- Million Dead
frontman Frank Turner
embarks here on his much
anticipated debut full
album release and plots
his reinvention from all
things quite heavy to
full on folk troubadour.
But can he really rise
to the challenge of
finding his inner Johnny
Cash when so many have
failed and those in the
know are more than aware
that a burgeoning
anti-folk scene is
succeeding.
The good news for
Frank is that the
results are largely very
convincing. It must be
said that Frank is
particularly well
endowed in the lyrical
department and pulls off
a series of narratives
that anyone in their mid
to late twenties,
thirties and beyond can
relate to. Musically the
album is mainly acoustic
based with occasional
string flourishes. The
prescence of drums on
most of the tracks and
the delivery fight away
any lethargy that
someone with a short
attention span might
expect. If one were to
think in commercial
terms the appeal of this
album is wide.
Frank’s battle is
often against himself
and against the drift
into mediocrity and the
feeling of despair that
conventional adulthood
can bring. This is best
demonstrated on ‘Once We
Anarchists’, a tale of
the REALITY that however
much you protest and
strive for change,
beating the ‘system’ is
way out of most people’s
grasp. “I’m young enough
to be all pissed off,
but I’m old enough to be
jaded, I’m at the age
when I want things to
change, but with age my
hopes are fading.” The
song is a right stunner.
Another of
Frank’s skills as a
songwriter is to tackle
serious subject matter
with trivial and often
hilarious anecdotes.
‘Father’s Day’ utilises
the story of an abortion
of a self made Mohawk,
moving on to the
complexities of parental
relationships on the
genuinely touching
father’s day, with
particularly passionate
vocals from Frank Turner
it would be hard to
believe that he would be
talking from anything
other than personal
experience.
Against such a
classy background the
banjo infused ‘Back on
the Day’ a tale of
teenage punk rock and
naivety that
unfortunately comes
across more Levellers
than Pogues; even if the
sentiment is worthy.
Turner saves the
best until last with the
live ‘The Ballad of Me
and My Friends’. Not
only does Turner’s voice
crackle with raw
emotion; this is a song
that anyone at the
bottom end of the music
‘industry’ in any
format, trying to hustle
themselves out of a day
job, (and these days
that’s just about
everyone), can empathise
with. Yes most of us
will end our days
undiscovered, but its
good fun and what else
are you going to do? I
think Frank Turner is
going to be one of the
lucky ones because he
has created a body of
work that it really is
hard not to be moved by.
www.myspace.com/frankturner
www.myspace.com/xtramilerecordings
Andrew Bennett
