As You Were

Week 7: Frank Turner- FTHC AKA Frank Turner Hardcore

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I first heard about Frank when he followed me on Twitter. I must confess I had yet to learn who he was or what kind of music he did until after that follow, in 2010. Despite watching his journey unfold since the 2010s, I learned this is his NINTH Album! The record initials stand for ‘Frank Turner Hardcore’, and I remember when Liam Gallagher described his debut album “As You Were” was going to be “Rock out with your chin out”…well, Frank’s undoubtedly is that. It is so far removed from “No Man’s Land” and “Be More Kind”. I cannot recall many acoustic and soft moments.

Following the previous paragraph, Frank hurls himself into the moshpit with the ‘Non Serviam’ opening track. It blows your ears off from the first note, and you hear Frank’s punk vocals. That caught me off guard when I knew Frank’s music to be more reflective and soft. It was a surprise, but a fucking nice one. He then launches himself into ‘the Gathering’ like he has jumped on a Kawasaki Ninja, weaving in and out of lanes and overtaking other vehicles on the M1 North and South when it is the dead of light, and you have the freedom to tank it. Once again, it doesn’t fit in with Frank’s back catalogue, but you can hear he has been fucking pissed off with having his livelihood taken away from him for over two years. He is returning with punk fuel inside him. You can hear the aggression in his vocals and the frustration pouring out of him in every bar and expletive.

I look forward to hearing the first two tracks and the energy he will bring when I see him perform. The softest track I could find on the record was ‘Haven’t been Doing So Well’, but don’t let that fool you. Frank is still bringing that punk, energetic rebellion sound.

However, Frank’s work is slightly milder than generic punk and rock. Of course, it is much punkier than his usual work, but that’s where it ends. Not that I am complaining whatsoever. Listening to Frank let rip and put the acoustic away was nice. Why do I say it isn’t like generic punk? The guitars are not as raw as you would expect from generic punk. There is no IDLES, Ireland’s Fontaines DC, or even Amyl and the Sniffers who bring that punk energy to their songs. You could add shame to that mix.

 Another thing I noticed is that the vocals seem to overpower the production, which takes away that live element that Frank was trying to bring across. Indeed, sometimes I struggled to hear those screaming guitars, thumping drums, and crashing cymbals. Frank was in a band called Million Dead from 2000 to 2005, and it is a slight return to those days with the production and the vocals full of angst and yelling. Only a little bit more constrained. 

At the start of this paragraph, I will mention what makes this “Hardcore”, as Frank puts it in the album title. Well, it’s not really for the sound but more for his vocals and the lyrics. Yes, I am aware that Frank is usually quite melancholic with his lyrics, but he has taken it further this time. Frank appears to be conversing with his past. Especially when talking about his transgender father in the following three songs; ‘Fatherless’, ‘My Bad’, and ‘Miranda’. Let’s begin a summary of the trilogy (If you will.) with ‘Fatherless’. In this song, he talks about being alone due to the absence of his then-father. In ‘My Bad’, he expresses guilt of having the responsibility of carrying the flag for the transgender movement put on him by his father. Finally, in ‘Miranda’, he addresses the fact his father is now transgender. Instead of feeling angry and alienated, he shows solidarity with his father’s decision and says that his father is a proud transgender woman, and his resentment has gradually faded away. He even says the line ‘Miranda, it’s lovely to meet you’ to show he has accepted what has happened. These songs exemplify Frank visiting the past and learning to live with it in the present.

You might say that Frank’s latest record is a bit “deep”. Yes, that may be true, but you will laugh at his witty lyrics, which somewhat take the edge off the subject matter. I enjoyed listening to “FTHC”; my concentration didn’t waver like on some of my reviews because I got bored. The lyrical content, vocal delivery, and production had my full attention. Frank has smashed it with this album, and I look forward to hearing these tracks while the moshers go fucking mental during live performances.

Song recommendations: ‘the Gathering’, ‘Non Serviam’, ‘Miranda’

9/10

Week Forty-One: Liam Gallagher- As You Were

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Liam_Gallagher_-_As_You_Were

 Of course, we will never forget what happened in Paris at Rock en Seine Festival minutes before Oasis were due on stage to play one of their last three gigs (I think.), it was left to Bloc Party’s Kele Okereke to announce to the crowd that, Oasis had split up on that August bank holiday night in 2009. What happened? We’ve heard both sides of the story from both Gallagher Brothers, but the others who could give us an insight have so far refused to talk about it, albeit very vaguely. Like most of us, I was shocked and gutted that Oasis was no more, but I could see it coming from the three gigs I attended on their final tour (For now. Will they reform? I can’t see it.). Especially at the iTunes Festival, where Liam seemed in an extremely foul mood, you could see the apparent tension between the Brothers. 

Anyway, what happened next was Beady Eye (Fronted by Liam with the rest of what was Oasis.) in 2009 and Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds( A solo project, apparently.) in 2010 were formed. Beady Eye’s debut record, “Different Gear, Still Speeding”, did very well, and although I wasn’t that keen on it, I did like three songs off it. Unfortunately, they couldn’t build on the success of the debut record and had a very indifferent second album, “BE”, which left Liam very disheartened and made him decide to split Beady Eye up after the tour. 

While this happened, his brother had a successful period with Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds. So what was next for Liam? After making the odd cameo appearance in 2014 and 2015, he headed back into the studio to record his debut album, “As You Were”, and I’m not going to hold back, so I apologise if anyone reading this doesn’t like it. I will go into these things later in the review about what I mean.

Liam isn’t trying to head in any other direction than what Oasis fans expected from the younger brother. “Wall of Glass” was the taster off the album back in June, and I heard it everywhere. Though I liked the energy and the attitude in the track, I cringed at the guitar riff at the intro and between the verses. It ruined for me what could have been a very good song. As we get to “Greedy Soul”, it is quite obvious who this is directed at, even if Liam refuses to admit it. The lyrics alone are a clue. “You’re getting told, you greedy soul, you’ve been telling lies, you’re a slippery kind”. It’s either Noel or Liam’s sister-in-law, Sara MacDonald, with whom he has had many a public spat via social media and, of course, in private.

“For What It’s Worth” seems an apology to Noel soaked in Beatles-inspired music from the 1968 record, “the White Album”. It sounds a bit like “Hey Jude”, in my opinion. The next was one I found very surprising, considering that Liam promised a “Rock out with your chin out” record and “Chinatown” does not fit into this premise. It’s a bouncy melody played with an acoustic guitar where Liam talks about taking you through the streets of Chinatown.

“You Better Run” and “Paper Crown” were the best of a bad bunch. “I’ve All I Need” that ends the album suggests that this could be an egotistical song judging by the title, but it is not. It is a song of gratitude to his fans and, I imagine, his family and friends. It’s a tranquil and sincere ending to a record that was supposed to be a “Rock out with your chin out” album. I did like the final track, but it doesn’t remind me of the attitude of Liam. He did write some acoustic songs with Oasis, even though he declared acoustic songs as “shite” or something along those lines. He even loathed doing intimate acoustic gigs for Oasis.

Overall: I was very disappointed with the debut record by Liam. Especially after hearing, “It’s a rock out with your chin out record”. I had high expectations after watching Liam’s warm-up gigs. Still, after the first single, “Wall of Glass”, I felt we might be heading into the “mediocre” direction which we have, unfortunately. For me, Liam has not been vocally strong since 2003. Anytime after, I have found his delivery; although the raw emotion is still there, the voice is shot to pieces, and he sounds nasally and croaky. Almost like he has lost his voice from shouting too much; of course, the parka monkeys would argue the toss with me, but there’s no denying his voice is past its best. Liam has also been very naïve with this record and let the producers interfere too much with the sound. I find that quite odd when you consider him a guy who won’t be bullied or told what to do. Was he being naïve in the studio, or is it simply the fact he has never been in this position to take charge of what direction he wanted? It could be both, but there has certainly been meddling, and I can’t see that Liam wanted the record to sound like this entirely. He will learn his lesson next time to ensure none of this meddling. He has employed an army of songwriters to aid him because he hasn’t written anything good since “I’m Outta Time” for Oasis in 2008. It’s quite sad that his voice sounds great on this record, but you can make the worst singer in the world sound like an angel with the technology available on the mixing desks and software. Unfortunately, you cannot dress up vocals to that degree live, and Liam’s vocals have been absent since 2003. I wish him well, and he will have several fans as he did with Oasis and Beady Eye, regardless of how they view his vocal performance live. 5/10