Life must be particularly galling if your last name is either Linehan or Keating and you happen to be in Cork's one-time finest pop band. Unfairly reviled by critics for years because... er, actually that one's always stumped me... the Frank And Walters have helped launch the careers of Suede, Radiohead and Oasis -the first two supported the trio on tour: the latter supplied a certain Noel Gallagher as guitar roadie back in the early Nineties.
There's a Japanese tribute band, both My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields and the High Llamas' Sean O'Hagan have contributed, yet still genuine success eludes the chirpy yet compassionate Irish lads. The band has even moved countries four times in an attempt to out-run their critics... why did the music press hate them so? Was it Paul Linehan's endearing way of forever just failing to hit the top note as he soared through his delectable pop melodies? Was it his brother Niall and drummer Ashley's disarming lack of pretension and refusal to dress up on stage? It couldn't have been the songs, surely - more sweet, naive paeans to the power of love and friendship, with a few smart and bemusing images thrown in. Sigh. Critics never liked Inspiral Carpets either, another Great Lost Early Nineties Pop Band.
So anyway, that's the preamble over with and... you may have guessed it already. The fourth album from the Frank And Walters isn't so hot. The fault doesn't lie in the songs - both the upbeat single 'Underground' and the almost angelic, melancholy 'New York' possess hooks to sell your kitten for. It's the production. Young Flood may sound great polishing up U2 and even PJ Harvey on occasion, but his talents do not gel here. Sure, the atmospherics and echoed beats on the world-weary 'Sinking' are fine, and everything has a lovelorn sheen, a certain resonance. But there's something lacking - individuality, perhaps?
Don't write them off yet, though. There are still enough moments of fragile magic here to hold out hope for the Frank And Walters continued presence. It's just that I was hoping for so much more.
