SOUNDCHECK: Are The Frames the Next U2?

Dave Grohl wants to play heavy metal










MUSIC BOX



Katy Rose


Because I Can

I just can't get enough of these teen-girl rockers. I think I have a sickness. (Katy's no FeFe Dobson, though.)



Helmet


Unsung: The Best of Helmet 1991-1997

Unsung is right. Over four albums, these guys laid much of the groundwork for nu-metal, and never got anything but one minor hit for it.



God Forbid


Gone Forever

Sheer balls-to-the-wall metal, one of a handful of American bands giving the Scandinavians a run for their money at being brutally heavy.



Anne McCue


Roll

The Australian Lucinda Williams? Not really, although she tries for it. Mean cover of Hendrix's "Machine Gun," though.



The Offspring


Splinter

Typical mixture of poppy punk and semi-funny novelty tunes. Like their last album, only three years later.




Josh Bell



Randall Bramblett


Thin Places

Bramblett sometimes reminds me a bit of John Hiatt, mixed with a touch of Lucinda Williams. He's been called the William Faulkner of Southern music with a whisky-raw voice and lonely sounds. But in some tracks, he works in a slow jazz feel. He moves so easily between Allman Bros.-type meat and potatoes and cool jazziness, it makes for an extremely listenable CD.



Superlitio


Tripping Tropicana

Latin dance music. It's definitely not something I can listen to sitting down, especially not when the occasional English lyrics say, "Shake your body." There are also some harder rock sounds and some rap, alternating between English and Spanish. But if you're not either a) feeling like shaking your groove thang, or b) a fan of Latin dance music generally, it can get tiresome quickly.




Stacy J. Willis


The Frames (5 stars)


Set List


>It's very tempting to compare The Frames to U2, but whether it's because it makes for an easy lead, or because it's fair, is hard to say. I'm leaning toward the latter.


This Dublin quintet is the island's most popular live act, and one listen to Set List will prove why. They rock, with riffs and outright theft from diverse sources like bluegrass, Johnny Cash and Dylan (Bob, not Thomas), orchestration that harkens back to Bruce Springsteen's Greetings From Asbury Park, and lyrics that smack you between the eyes.


Glen Hansard, lead vocals, songwriter and guitarist (he also had a role in The Commitments), has a voice that easily rises from a whisper to a scream. Colm Mac Con Iomaire on fiddle plays with the angels. Joseph Doyle on bass, David Hingerty on drums and new guitarist Rob Bochnik round out the crew.


The tracks are spellbinding, from the rambling, colorful tale that precedes "What Happens When the Heart Just Stops" to the audience singing along to "Lay Me Down," matching the band's key and tempo so perfectly it gave me goose bumps.




Martin Stein



Probot (2.5 stars)


Probot


What an odd record. Dave Grohl is one of the giants of alt-rock, first as drummer for Nirvana and then as leader of the Foo Fighters, but apparently what he really wants is to be in a heavy metal band. Instead of putting one together, he's essentially recorded a metal mix-tape, going back to the roots of the Foo Fighters by playing nearly every note on the self-titled debut from side project Probot, a few guest appearances notwithstanding. He then invited his metal heroes to write lyrics to his music and sing on each of the album's 11 tracks.


Grohl's clearly studied '80s underground metal carefully, since he tailors each song to its guest lyricist/vocalist. We get psychedelic doom metal with Trouble's Eric Wagner, NYC hardcore with Corrosion of Conformity's Mike Dean, operatic power metal with Mercyful Fate's King Diamond, and so on. Each song is a showcase for its vocalist, and the album is a testament to Grohl's musical and songwriting abilities. But it's a slavish pastiche. You'd do better to pick up seminal records by any of the guest stars, and Grohl's talents would be put to better use creating something that moves the genre forward.




Josh Bell

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