The Franklys
Are You Listening? – Halta Halta Records
It’s a bit of a no brainer to take the very popular sound of rock n roll and give it a dose of grit courtesy of the direct route punk and garage rock uses. Up until now though bands have struggled to make the mix work. Either the melody and bounce is lost to anger or the production swallows up the street cred. Finally we have a group that has got it right, a group that understands how you can be feisty and still kick out a tune that will get you tapping to the beat. The Franklys have kept the writing itself pretty simple. There’s just enough of a guitar flourish for embellishment, just enough variation to keep you interested and a whole lot of melody to make you nod your head. In Jennifer Ahlkvist they have a vocalist who sounds like she means business, someone who sounds like she means every word. Any band dreams of a killer song, the one that sets an album alight and transfers into gold played live. The Franklys have that song in ‘Weasel’ which has the balance of pop fun and punk snarl set perfectly at 50/50. They’ve asked the question are you listening? The answer is you really should be.
Review by Gary Trueman