Frank the Baptist- The New Colossus

ARTIST: Frank the Baptist
ALBUM: The New Colossus
LABEL: Strobelight Records
REVIEWER: Matthew J.
DATE: 10-28-07

Frank the Baptist's third album is even better than their first two, and that's really saying something. The elements that make the band so unique are still there: the moody pop hooks, the undercurrent of death rock edginess, and eponymous lead singer Frank the Baptist's bouncing minor-key vocals and nautical imagery. They're also sounding tighter and better produced, with the glaring and intentional exception of "Ever," a gloriously low-fi rock 'n' roll song that wouldn't sound out of place sandwiched between Dramarama and Echo and The Bunnymen. "If I Speak" brings the band's sea shanty influences to the forefront, with a whole ship's crew of back-up singers shouting gleefully along with the chorus, while "When the Sky" is simply a perfect pop song, albeit a moody one. "Harlot of Nations" is equally gorgeous; with a classic '60s feel that owes more to teenage death songs than rockabilly and grim allusions to the Book of Revelations, it sounds like Tiger Army's most recent stuff and is just as accessible. Moving in the other direction, "Beg, Steal and Borrow" is a gypsy love song driven along by the creaking violin of the Bolshoi Bandit Society's Bela Pistoljet, who also turns the jouncing "Call the Tune" into a weird death rock waltz that sounds like nothing so much as punk gone Victorian. For goth purists, "The Wrong House" has the brooding bass-driven feel of The Cure's early stuff, "Scars Forever" sees Frank's vocals echo over a twanging guitar, and final track "Cosmonauts" starts from a quiet reverb-drenched wail and and finishes with morose but epic-feeling drums. Wait a few minutes, and you'll get a bonus track: an a capella reprise of the sea shanty chorus from "If I Speak" that perfectly captures Frank the Baptist's unique style. Check this album out if you're interested in hearing one of the few true originals to come out of the goth scene in the past few years.

Hear selections from the album on MySpace at www.myspace.com/frankthebaptistmusic.