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    HM Magazine #83/The Frantics
    The Frantics — Meet the Frantics cover

    The Frantics

    Meet the Frantics

    (2000)

    Reviewed by A Girl Called Gordon

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    Label Organic RecordsHM Magazine #83May/June 2000
    new wavepop rockpower popsurf rock

    I was first taken with this album, when the cover didn't show the band's faces. They showed their shirts and ties, but the faces were blurred. It's almost always a selling point when the label wants to put the face on the CD . . . as if that would be the only thing that would sell the product. Not with The Frantics.

    It's time for some good pop. This band reminds me slightly of the power pop of the 80's. They have culminated what All Star United has been trying to do. They have the energy, the voice, and catch that will attract many people. It's a new wave of new wave pop. The influences of Jade Hansen (Believable Picnic) and Tony Palacios and Jamie Rowe (Guardian) are felt through this album, but the core of the music is definitely their own.

    There are some tunes that unintentionally remind me of the 80's; Bryan Adams, The Knack and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, a plus in my book . . . yes, I grew up in the 80's . . . what's your point?

    The only thing about this album that doesn't remind me of the New Wave Decade of Gen Xer's are the lyrics. They focus on the inner soul, they are honest. Some focus on what we are thinking and others on who God is and where He is or should be in our lives. The lyrics are easily relatable.

    This is a CD for the long trips in your car, while you're doing housework, or while you are at work . . . it makes the time fly by and makes your day easier.

    Other coverage for this album

    Bandoppler 2000Reviewed by Jeanette StroleRemember the days of yore, when rock and roll was fun? Days when it was okay to throw in some keyboards, tambourines, harmonies, and hand-clapping but still be considered a rock band. Days when rock stars didn't have to be in a revival ska band to wear dress shirts and ties. Days where the word pop could unabashedly be interchanged with the word rock, without carrying some stigma along with it.…The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Michial FarmerWhat else should I have expected but a Beatles rip-off, with an album title like Meet the Frantics? Although the first song opens with a guitar riff that sounds suspiciously like "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2, The Frantics retreat quickly into familiar territory already mapped by the Fab Four and then by Oasis in the mid-90s. There's a little bit more of a punk edge to this album than either of…The Phantom Tollbooth 2000Reviewed by Eric DaamsFast-paced, short songs; raving musicianship; intoxicating hooks; exhilarating freshness. All these things are suggested by the name of Organic Records' latest addition. The Frantics? Their debut, entitled Meet the Frantics, presents a junction of classic pop, rock and surf music, with a retro sensibility, and a coating of commercialism--a frantic combination. For a band with such a seemingly…

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    Also in HM Magazine #83

    1999M-EdgeDemo1998Mark Needs a ChickMark Needs a Chick1999SpeckGogglebox2000The RooseveltsFriday Nights2000GuardianLive!2000AP2Suspension of Disbelief