MUSIC BOX |
Josh Bell
Stacy J. Willis |
The Frames (5 stars)
Set List
>It's very tempting to compare The Frames to U2, but whether it's because it makes for an easy lead, or because it's fair, is hard to say. I'm leaning toward the latter.
This Dublin quintet is the island's most popular live act, and one listen to Set List will prove why. They rock, with riffs and outright theft from diverse sources like bluegrass, Johnny Cash and Dylan (Bob, not Thomas), orchestration that harkens back to Bruce Springsteen's Greetings From Asbury Park, and lyrics that smack you between the eyes.
Glen Hansard, lead vocals, songwriter and guitarist (he also had a role in The Commitments), has a voice that easily rises from a whisper to a scream. Colm Mac Con Iomaire on fiddle plays with the angels. Joseph Doyle on bass, David Hingerty on drums and new guitarist Rob Bochnik round out the crew.
The tracks are spellbinding, from the rambling, colorful tale that precedes "What Happens When the Heart Just Stops" to the audience singing along to "Lay Me Down," matching the band's key and tempo so perfectly it gave me goose bumps.
Martin Stein
Probot (2.5 stars)
Probot
What an odd record. Dave Grohl is one of the giants of alt-rock, first as drummer for Nirvana and then as leader of the Foo Fighters, but apparently what he really wants is to be in a heavy metal band. Instead of putting one together, he's essentially recorded a metal mix-tape, going back to the roots of the Foo Fighters by playing nearly every note on the self-titled debut from side project Probot, a few guest appearances notwithstanding. He then invited his metal heroes to write lyrics to his music and sing on each of the album's 11 tracks.
Grohl's clearly studied '80s underground metal carefully, since he tailors each song to its guest lyricist/vocalist. We get psychedelic doom metal with Trouble's Eric Wagner, NYC hardcore with Corrosion of Conformity's Mike Dean, operatic power metal with Mercyful Fate's King Diamond, and so on. Each song is a showcase for its vocalist, and the album is a testament to Grohl's musical and songwriting abilities. But it's a slavish pastiche. You'd do better to pick up seminal records by any of the guest stars, and Grohl's talents would be put to better use creating something that moves the genre forward.
Josh Bell