I recently received a free ten dollar credit from emusic for no reason, and thought gee isn’t today my lucky day? Well after picking up two albums, Frankie Rose’s debut Interstellar and Mirroring’s Foreign Body (the collaboration between Grouper and Tiny Vipers which was a ridiculously cheap $2.49) it was indeed my day, though I suppose luck had nothing to do with it. It was a bit of a whim that brought me to Frankie Rose. I had heard of her when Interstellar was first released and indeed it received some acclaim. But looking into her history further it was amazing the amount of work that she has contributed to bands that I like. Apparently she drummed for the Crystal Stilts, Vivian Girls, and the Dum Dum Girls. To consider that one person was the driving force behind three rock solid indie bands was Interstellar all in its own, and then to hear her own music and have it be this good knocked me clear out of the atmosphere.
And it is there (clear out of the atmosphere) that the music takes you. The previous three bands that Rose drummed for are all iterations of garage revival of sorts, and Roses solo work is too. Comparatively though, if the Crystal Stilts or Vivian Girls stay firmly rooted underneath the roof of a garage made for minivans, Frankie Rose sounds like she is playing in the docking bay on the international space station, and it makes a worlds difference. Her sound has the same kick as some of the bands she has drummed for, but it also has a startling space-age feel to it that in no ways feels corny or overdone. While listening, Frankie’s voice sort of floats around the room, orbiting around the listeners head like it were a heavenly body, accompanied by beautifully layered synth and sound. And as strong as the sound is the lyrics are often topical or melodramatic, not really the focus. In this way the album is not so much an invitation to spend the weekend, but a quick glimpse into a world that is so far gone from our own that the differences are shocking. Rest assured though, if you are a fan of garage rock you will like what you hear on Interstellar, but in a way it is a bait and switch, as the main focus is not energy as it often is with garage rock but with mood and ambience. With that said Rose does a good job of straddling those two arenas which often stand in opposition to each other, she at no times feels fake as poorly done garage can sound or hokey as poorly done experimentation can sound.
Particular songs that stand out for me are the opener which the album gets its name from Interstellar. It’s a good track and it really epitomizes what Rose is going for on the album. Putting the track that best describes your sound right at the beginning of an album can be risky, as it may make the rest of the album tedious to listen to, Rose instead uses that track as a launching pad for later tracks to either return to the familiar garage rock punch or branch and become more experimental. Another thing here is that the album is short; only thirty minutes with ten tracks, and while this may incite a few groans from fans who want more content, I really think the album stands well as it is. It is funny to think that the other album I bought, Mirroring’s Foreign Body is about fifteen minutes longer than Interstellar and has four less songs, but somehow Interstellar still works in terms of creating an ambient feel. That I would attribute to the production value, which is expertly done, every instrument is as smooth as butter, and Frankie Rose’s voice is even smoother. Overall the album works and is worth your time, even if you don’t receive a free ten dollar credit from emusic.
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