The last one of the recent boot fair purchases (still sealed, £2), Frank Turner is someone I've had strongly recommended
I'd only heard him briefly in passing, and thought "must check him out", and I was expecting a kind of male Grace Petrie, or a posh Billy Bragg.
My first listening to this has put me right on that score, as well as finding out that he's currently doing a short tour playing the songs from Never Mind The Bollocks, with the three-quarters of the Sex Pistols who aren't currently pricks.
NonServiam is a full blooded thrash, waking the listener up, with The Gathering, Haven't Been Doing So Well and Untainted Love continuing the high energy, angry pop. Fatherless continues the anger, possibly comparing his public school upbringing with the care system, very powerfully, and My Bad is another quick thrash. Miranda is the first gentler number (and the first to poke it's head over four minutes), a tale of a transgender father.
The more thoughtful mood continues with A Wave Across A Bay, before the mostly spoken singalong rocker The Resurrectionists, and it's back to a punky thrash for Punches, and Perfect Score also rocks along nicely. The Work is a pleasant song, but no more, and from there, there's the more gentle, folky Little Life, fine but quite bland, and the album closer, Farewell To My City, another narrative speech, but with a strong accompaniment underlying it, making it a strong finish.
I've quite enjoyed it, and think it's a decent enough album, but among the fourteen songs, only a minority make an impression. As a taster, I'll certainly pick up any more Turner albums I stumble across, but I'm still a bit undecided about his place in rock history. I don't feel he's delivering anything new, but what he does deliver is interesting. Certainly worth further investigation.
3* - a solid, enjoyable, personal album, which for me just doesn't quite hit the mark yet.
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