Francine – Silver Plated 606

Francine
Silver Plated 606

I heard a track from Francine off of SOMA FM and instantly needed to find out more about the band. Wow, I really liked the two songs available for download off their most recent album 28 Plastic Blue Versions of Ending Without You. These guys are masters of the unexpected (but nevertheless delicious) left-turn chord change.

The first track is called Silver Plated 606 and the chorus really showcases their talent at this. I mean the chord changes are super interesting, but are so natural that it doesn’t feel like they’re “trying” to be complex or anything. If I could point to any one band that they remind me of on this song it would have to be Heatmiser (Elliott Smith and Sam Coomes of Quasi got their start from this band). The loping tub drums and the aforementioned chord changes really remind me of “The Fix Is In” off of Mic City Sons. Their use of slightly twangy guitar with that engaging drawl led me to think of some of the Dandy Warhols’ slower songs.

So Albany Brownout is REALLY similar to some of the Elliott Smith “waltzes” in feel, but still I really liked this song as well. A bit slower than the other one but just as pretty. Francine is an indie band from the Boston area who’ve made quite an impact with this second album of theirs. Ok… so it came out in 2003 so I can’t say it’s anything new. But it’s new to me. I’ve heard that their other release Forty On a Fall Day was less introspective than this one.

Sample tracks from Francine
Silver Plated 606 – 28 Plastic Blue Versions of Endings Without You
Albany Brownout – 28 Plastic Blue Versions of Endings Without You

by Bryan