Some bands will always be small town garage bands. Boston-bred Francine manages to be a little bit more than that on its debut album, Forty on a Fall Day... at least for a while.
Formed in 1997 by singer/songwriter/guitarist Clayton Scoble, Francine is made up of veterans of Boston's indie-pop music scene. Scoble used to be front man for the now-defunct band Pavement and has worked with folk-pop singer Aimee Mann. Sean Conolly pulls double duty as the bassist of local band Astroslut, while guitarist Albert Gualtieri and drummer Steve Scully have toured with Tracy Bonham and Jen Trynin, respectively.
Putting a finger on where Francine falls in the pop-rock spectrum is tough. Members cite David Bowie, the Kinks, and the Beatles as influences, and that's apparent throughout the album. Several songs are reminiscent of the sluggish, dreamy melodies of later Beatles songs, especially "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "I Am the Walrus." The group likes different kinds of keyboards, another sound inspired by the early '70s British psychedelic rock. Its songwriting roots are in the low-fi movement of the last decade, which lends a kind of geek-chic element to their music. First and foremost, however, Francine is a rock band, and rather than fall into the stereotypes of their genre, the musicians manage to create a catchy indie-rock sound.
The album opens with the cut "Set of Dune," about a romance Scoble was involved in while he was a key grip on the movie Dune. The fuzzy guitar melody is almost trance-inducing, and evokes the kind of nostalgic reminiscence that Scoble is singing about. Conolly's bass is subtle - as it is through the whole CD - but still manages to complement the vocals nicely. The song doesn't grab you immediately, making it a less-than-ideal opener, but by the end of it you find yourself wondering what else these guys have down their sleeves.
"Trampoline" is it. Easily the best song on the album, it has just the sort of upbeat rhythm and addictive hook that a small band needs in its songs if it hopes to get any airplay. The guitar playing of both Scoble and Gualtieri anchor the song without overshadowing Scoble's lyrics, which manage to get into your head and stay there. The song also introduces the playfulness of Francine's lyrics, and Scoble's tendency to make quasi-pop references - here, they are to Macs and the movie Alien. Note for note it is a pop song, but the band manages to avoid making it sound derivative, thanks in large part to its great tempo shifts.
The third song on the album, "Want Ad King," is where Scoble begins to go overboard with his songwriting and starts to sound annoying. First of all, he starts off the song in a monotone (something he does several more times, most notably in "Mean as Hell"). It takes away from the otherwise respectable playing by the other members of the band. "Want Ad King" is also where he begins to drop vague lyrics that try too hard to be metaphorical and profound - "confidentially, I'm doing better in 2D/ a dollar seven five can sing/ say hello to the want ad king." It's as if he's pretending that he's bored and just throwing out random lyrics, but in reality he's trying too much to impart that kind of hip and vague insight that fits the stereotype of indie music. He does it again in "Mean as Hell" ("Custer was the devil's name/ cynical became the goal line at the game") and in "Aw Grace" ("stasis was ok, we had an open bar/ too charming cryogenic host/ rescue executed by the flame on cartoon/ you are the friendliest ghost").
While the lyrics hamper some of the songs, there are times when the musicians shine, namely in two of the three interludes. The first, "Stampy," is a short instrumental jam that rocks more than anything else on the entire CD - which may be disheartening considering that it's only half a minute long. "Robot Maid" starts off with just a guitar and a violin, until the screeching of metal obscures them. However, the song does work. They also use keyboards to their advantage, accenting the guitar riffs without going overboard, namely on "Quasars," "East Hampton," and "Jet to Norway."
Scoble said in one interview, "Headphones are essential to appreciate the full depth of the recording. Listening and re-listening is a constant process of discovery." That is certainly the case with Forty on a Fall Day. It just seems to sound better on headphones. All of the sounds the band wants people to hear are more distinct. This gives the whole album a richer sound than it has on speakers. The album definitely does grow on you the more you listen to it.
Sadly, it seems Francine succumbed to the garage band curse in the end. All of the best material is on the first half of the album, while they seem to trail off on the last few tracks, leaving us with the forgettable "Failing" and "Reddish Blonde." Nothing on the second half, other than "Pop Warner," is as energetic or appealing as the first seven songs or so.
All in all, Forty on a Fall Day is merely a decent album, not exceptional. There is a reason why Francine is still an indie band.
