Another long day but I’m home now,
and it feels good. I could watch the end of the football game, but instead I’m
going to write this blog while I’ve still got some creative energy in the tank.
Disc 1076 is…Tape Deck Heart
Artist: Frank
Turner
Year of Release: 2013
What’s up with the Cover? An artist’s literal
interpretation of a tape deck heart. This looks a lot like a tattoo design, and
I wouldn’t be surprised if Frank has this tattooed on him somewhere. As album
covers go, this is top notch, except of course for Tipper Gore’s parental
advisory, wrecking the symmetry of the art all so that the moms of America will
know that Frank says “fuck” from time to time on the album.
How I Came To Know It: I came relatively late to Frank
Turner, with “Tape Deck Heart” being the first album that I heard. I believe my
friend Casey played a couple of songs off of here for me and I was hooked.
How It Stacks Up: I have six Frank Turner albums. Of those six,
“Tape Deck Heart” comes in at #1.
Ratings: 5 stars
Frank
Turner albums don’t just speak to your soul; they whisper comforting words to
it to let you know everything is going to work out. “Tape Deck Heart” has Frank
working his usual magic, reinforced with some of his strongest songwriting and
arrangements that are crisp and confident.
No one
writes an inspirational anthem like Frank Turner. These are songs that empower
you and demand you sing along, lifting you up on their powerful messages of
reflection, rebellion and redemption. Unlike so many radio friendly pop songs
that try to do the same, Frank’s brand of inspiration is never giddy and
vacuous or vague. These anthems are inspirational because they represent confronting
and overcoming real issues, and real challenges.
Depression,
lost love, and substance abuse all feature prominently and you get the distinct
impression that Frank sings what he knows. On “Tell Tale Signs” he compares the memory of a damaging relationship
with cutting and self-harm. It is a raw and emotionally
real song from its stark opening of “God
damn it, Amy/we’re not kids anymore” through Frank’s comparison of the
memory of the girl he knew, described as “a
beautiful butterfly burned with a branding iron.” The memory of her is like
the scars on his arms, always there, sometimes painful and strangely comforting.
Turner’s willingness to confront his fears creates an instant rapport
in the listener. On “Plain Sailing Weather”
he sings “give me one fine day of plain
sailing weather and I can fuck up anything.” It is a relatable moment for anyone
who ever had a dumb moment and is in the middle of slamming their head into
their palm. You may not have Frank’s specific demons, but you’ve got some kind
of demons, and it is just nice to hear someone sing so openly about theirs.
For all
the sadness, at his heart Turner is an optimist and understands that even bad
memories serve a useful purpose. “Recovery”
is a song about screwing up a relationship, but it is also a lesson on how to
grow and learn from loss. “The Way I Tend
To Be” is Turner admitting he can be a schmuck, but how it makes him appreciate
a love that “can save me from the way I
tend to be”.
Frank
Turner albums are often about the lyrics and message, and he wisely keeps the
melodies basic so you can focus on them. The backdrop is a smartly organized blend
of pop, folk and punk. “Tape Deck Heart” has a bit more production than earlier
records, but Turner wisely leaves lots of room for the songs to breathe,
punctuating his four minute jolts of wisdom with a flourish of piano or
mandolin as the occasion demands.
And of
all Turner’s albums, “Tape Deck Heart” has songs that are the most consistently
catchy. Listening to this record I can’t understand why he isn’t more famous.
Maybe people just like their pop with a little less pain.
My only
issue with this album is that it is too long, clocking in with 16 songs and 62
minutes, including four ‘bonus’ tracks. I’d be tempted to cut those four songs,
but they are some of the best on the album. “We Shall Not Overcome” has a chorus that feels like the theme song
of my life:
“The bands I like they don’t sell
too many records
And the girls I like they don’t
kiss too many boys
And the books I read will never
be bestsellers
Yeah, but come on fellas at least
we made our choice.”
Turner
understands that his army of counter-culture iconoclasts need a sense of
belonging too –often achieved when standing united and proud behind our obscure
bands and books.
Mostly
though, Frank is about accepting that bad things happen to good people, but the
human spirit has an incredible propensity to overcome. The lessons we learn
along the way are part of the celebration, even if they hurt at the time. On
tattoos he sings “if we had the luck to
live our lives a second time through/we’d be sure to get the same tattoos”.
Despite
all this excellence I was going to downgrade Frank to four stars for breaking
my 14 song rule. Then I read this quote on the Wikipedia entry for the album:
“Track listing an album is a fine
art, and usually a pretty agonising process. I’m glad I've had the opportunity
to do the extended version for this one – all these songs belong together. That
said, I think an album is a piece of art in its own right and can be too long,
so it’s worth making the twelve-track definitive version. Choosing what makes
it and what doesn’t is agonising, though.”
Damn
you, Frank, you managed to be unflinchingly honesty about even your decision to
put too many songs on the album. I just can’t stay mad at you over it when you
put it like that. Five stars it is, given with love from the depths of my
compact disc heart.
Best
tracks: All tracks
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