Frankie & The Heartstrings + Night Flowers + Kingsley Chapman & The Murder
Westgarth Social Club, Middlesbrough
May 16 2015
Words: Steve Spithray
The last time I saw Frankie &The Heartstrings, in Stockton a couple of years ago, I opined (largely to myself mind you) about my concern that the band's Pop Recs Ltd shop in Sunderland may soon become more of a priority than the band itself in a kind of indie singularity moment. And now with recent sold out shows by The Charlatans, The Cribs, James Bay and The Vaccines and full to capacity turns by the likes of Dutch Uncles and Hyde & Beast the shop is definitely showing no sign of winding down while the venues the band are playing themselves on their current tour, including this one, are smaller than ever.
Tonight for the final show of the tour the intimate Wessie is sold out which is testament to the quality line-up from Kaboom Music. Kingsley Chapman & The Murder have helped shift a few tickets mind, and after an enforced hiatus post-Chapman Family, Kingsley returned with a scintillating set at Stockton Calling the other week so I couldn't wait to see him again. It's powerful stuff especially in a venue of this size, dystopian tales of lovers set to noir piano, trumpet and violin alongside Kingsley's crashing guitar, Nick Cave-esque balladry and a pounding rhythm section. Latest Soundcloud offering ‘Poison Tongues', a punky tale of street fighting, is most reminiscent of Kingsley's old band while newie ‘Bad Blood' has the ailing NHS taking on the role of metaphorical lover.
Another new one tentatively called ‘Another Drippy Love Song' shows their tender side - just vocals and piano. Already familiar set closer ‘Olympians' is Kingsley's rousing grand statement though and the lush live arrangement only adds to its majesty. And having largely ditched the way-out-there free-jazz elements of earlier shows this is The Murder's chance to really shine with an avant-rock frenzy to end the show on a real high. With a single now slated for early July on Too Pure, we can look forward to it soundtracking a summer of post-election discontent.
Next up, and far be it for me to make assumptions about inter-band relationships, there is a certain Buckingham/Nicks chemistry on stage with main support Night Flowers. That's not to say they sound like Fleetwood Mac, they don't; the boy/girl interplay is bang on the money, late 80s indie/shoegaze pop at its best or in the vague vein of Of Monsters and Men for those requiring a more contemporary reference point. And we like it quite a lot. Ones to keep an eye on.
The truth is though, with Frankie et al, hardly going through the motions, their band ethos and spirit seems stronger than ever, they mingle with the crowd before and after and there is an obvious camaraderie (solidarity even) with the support acts. Drummer Dave is ebullient (and controversial) as always and Frankie as post-Jarvis frontman is still as absorbing to watch even having lost two longstanding members in the last year or so. Certainly new song 'Save It For Tonight' streamed earlier this month should see them back on our radios over the summer while ‘Decency' further suggests a faster, angrier sound without losing their trademark eye for a melody, even if Frankie did struggle with the high mid-eight section blaming tour fatigue and a sore throat. And with Ross Millard now confirmed as a permanent member the Futureheads inflections on ‘Tender' have added gravitas.
Elsewhere crowd favourites ‘That Girl That Scene', ‘I Still Follow You', ‘Photograph' and cynical but tight-as-you-like between song banter epitomise a band more than happy in their work before traditional arm-waving finale ‘Don't Look Surprised' sends us off into the night joyous and a little drunk.
So, with third album - also called ‘Decency' - finally set to see the light of day on July 10, suggestions of them becoming a brand rather than a band now seems unfair and playing live, by this performance anyway, is still their raison d'etre. So rather than being all encompassing, Pop Recs, in years to come, should become part of Frankie & The Heartstrings lore, rather than the other way around.
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