Having toiled away for years playing toilet-circuit gigs for a cult following of devoted fans, Frank Turner is finally beginning to achieve the plaudits he so richly deserves. It’s rare to find a singer-songwriter who isn’t instantly signed by a record company after one decent tune, and it’s even rarer to find a talent as impressive as Frank’s to be ignored by the mainstream for so long.
Finally though, this injustice has begun to be noticed. Radio 1 have picked up on the radio-friendly ‘Reasons Not To Be An Idiot’ and fans of intelligent story-telling lyrics and heart-wrenching acoustic strumming have begun to take note. Of the many highlights, the country-tinged ‘Photosynthesis’ is a jaunty ‘fuck you’ to a world desperate to conform and a campfire classic. ‘Long Live the Queen’ is an infectious ode to a lost friend that combines optimistic and poignant lyrics with a tune so merry it could make any funeral enjoyable. And ‘Substitute’ demonstrates Turner’s knack for poetic and frank lyrics with the line: “if music was the food of love, then I’d be a fat romantic slob”.
Perhaps Frank’s relative obscurity up until now is due to the fact he’s not particularly handsome, he’s almost in his thirties, and he’s not a drug-riddled rockstar. Instead, Frank has perfected the nice guy persona and stuck to his true punk credentials by ignoring any clichéd fads and scenes, writing melody infused masterpieces about love, life, and friendship. Fingers crossed, the world is finally ready for some honesty.
Rating: 4 Stars