The Frames
Burn The Maps
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“When you found something that good/it’s hard to focus on what’s right” blares lead singer Glen Hallard on The Frames’ latest, greatest record, Burn the Maps. It’s as if he’s cautioning folks who lose themselves in moments of blissful ignorance, which can be just as hazardous as being immersed inside a state of prolonged melancholy. Both can offer rewards with pleasurable or even painful results, so you have to be prepared to bleed. The Frames can abridge an entire lifespan of hurt and peaceful longing into a mere three minutes and they’ve done so for a number of years now. The second track, “Finally,” could be the best track they’ve ever laid down as it encapsulates the dichotomy of emotional complexity while heatedly radiating humanity in a way that is hair-raisingly beautiful.

The Frames are a band chock-full of nervous, overactive hesitation (“Sideways Down”) pooled with muted delivery and ear-piercing flare-ups while assertively confronting trials and tribulations. They’ve had a rough past, but still manage to imprint a sense of hope for the future as a song like “Dream Awake” demonstrates. They may have gotten lost inside themselves, but there’s clearly a way out and there’s “a point in all your dreaming.” They are searing ballads and rock epics that are bruising and transcendent, as if the string quartet for Radiohead joined forces with the distorted assault of The Afghan Whigs. Burn the Maps is the one to beat for 2005, for it impeccably captures the intensity and unflinching passion that comes with constructing a simple, yet vibrantly dynamic rock record that will reverberate inside anyone’s heart. Although their records in the past are strong efforts, it’s good to hear the band focusing on what’s right.

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