Frank Turner - The First Three Years

  by Kelly Smith

published: 24 / 1 / 2009

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When Frank Turner says the first three years, he means everything from the first three years. A 23-track album? Could this be bordering on overkill? It’s a distinct possibility. Having said that, Turner has become something of a hero during the past year. After his breakthrough single ‘Long Live The Queen’ was extensively featured on Radio 1, he’s been enjoying his time in the spotlight as a semi-mainstream acoustic-folk-punk poster boy, and this album of his early songs and b-sides highlights this to a brilliant extent. Turner is poetic to the extreme, and uses his music to tell stories which ordinarily would be boring. Witty song titles and heartfelt lyrics are the cornerstone of his music – ‘I Really Don’t Care What You Did On Your Gap Year’ and ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The One Of Me’ showcase his slight awkwardness and uncertainty of himself in a melodic and tuneful fashion. ‘The Outdoor Type’ is a sweet story of a man lying about enjoying camping and building fires – an ordinary idea which becomes meaningful and endearing when Turner sings about it. Obviously a talented musician, Turner doesn’t showcase enough diversity, the result being that this album becomes a bit repetitive after a while. There’s no massive deviation in his style, which would probably be fine if it were slightly more upbeat but it’s bordering on melancholy when you listen to over an hour of complaints that resonate with you more and more as you go on. Lines such as “I’m sick to death of always being the sucker” from ‘Heartless Bastard Motherfucker’ sound increasingly like he’s writing about your life and everything you’ve done before long. I wouldn’t say that this was the most uplifting of albums, but depending on what kind of mood you’re in it has the power to be softly inspirational. Not in the sense that you’ll run arms open into the sunset and conquer the world after all, but sometimes it’s nice to know that someone else is having doubts, and that someone else has turned an everyday event into a song, and you understand what he means. Frank Turner is an epic example of a normal guy done good, and I’m definitely one of those who gets what he means. I’d say this album was one for those who are already Frank fans, but if you wanted to check out something new, his cover of ‘Dancing Queen’ is one of the best I’ve heard in a really long time. 'The First Three Years' is a tidy album – the next three years will be more telling of Turner’s talent.

Track Listing:-

1 The Real Damage
2 Nashville Tennessee
3 Thatcher Fucked the Kids
4 This Town Ain't Big Enough for the One of Me
5 Casanova Lament
6 I Really Don't Care What You Did on Your Gap Year
7 The Outdoor Type
8 You Are My Sunshine
9 Sea Legs
10 Back to Sleep
11 Sunshine State
12 Heartless Bastard Motherfucker
13 Pay to Cum
14 Fix Me
15 Hold Your Tongue
16 Front Crawl
17 Jet Lag (Rock)
18 Photosynthesis (Truck Sessions)
19 Worse Things Happen at Sea (Truck Sessions)
20 Imperfect Tense (Truck Sessions)
21 District Sleeps Alone Tonight
22 Smiling at Strangers on Trains
23 Dancing Queen
24 Longing for the Day

Band Links:-

http://www.frank-turner.com
http://www.facebook.com/frankturnermusic
https://twitter.com/frankturner

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