FRAMES

I completely agree with Russellk's opening line. I wanted to love this one and thought I would, but no dice. This one isn't as melodic as "Everyone Into Position" or as heavy for that matter. It probably reminds me more of their debut with that strong alternative flavour, only not as psychedelic.

"Commemorative T-Shirt" is a definite highlight for me. Gentle guitar gives way quickly to piano as drums join in. A full sound before 1 1/2 minutes. Vocals arrive 2 minutes later. Some heavy guitar 5 minutes in that sound great. The sound lightens a little after 7 minutes. "Unfamiliar" has an uptempo and heavy intro that lightens when the vocals arrive. The contrast continues. "Trail Of Fire" opens with piano and light drums as vocals arrive before a minute. The sound gets louder and the guitar stands out after 4 minutes. It becomes more intense after 6 minutes. "Savant" opens with synths that are joined by gentle guitar and light drums. Reserved vocals a minute later. Post-Rock styled guitar after 5 minutes.

"Only Twin" slowly builds and it does have a Post-Rock flavour while the vocals are more in the alternative style. "An Old Friend Of The Christies" along with the first track are my favs. It's an instrumental that opens with synths as drums beat slowly. Some dark sounding guitar takes the place of the synths. It's building slowly. Synths are back 3 1/2 minutes in. Suddenly we get a full sound 5 minutes in with scorching guitar. It calms back down to the earlier melody 7 1/2 minutes in. "Sleeping Dogs And Dead Lions" is heavy and intense with upfront drumming. Theatrical vocals rant and rave. "The Frame" opens with gently picked guitar. Soft vocals 2 1/2 minutes in. The sound gets fuller a minute later then releases back. This contrast continues.

A definite disappointment for me compared to their last one, but worth checking out as you can see the many high ratings it has received on this site.