Album Of The Week: "Hell Yep" by Frankie Teardrop

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of July 3rd-9th, 2016:

Frankie Teardrop - Hell Yep

01. Not A Love Song
02. Stay Dumb
03. It Flipped
04. Get It (Kelly)
05. Diet
06. Back To It
07. Convertible/Cig Death
08. Beauty Station
09. My Boys
10. Pissin' In The City
11. D.E.F.L.
12. Waiting For You

(Frankie Teardrop by Niya DeLa Pena)

Well, folks, welcome to one of the more morose entries in my Album Of The Week column. I'm sad to say that, this week, I'll be writing up Frankie Teardrop's final album. We all knew this day would come, of course, but not in July of 2016.

For those of you who've been following along with the blog & podcast, you likely know that MinneSarah & I have been huge supporters of Frankie Teardrop for a long time now. I've played their songs five times on the show and this week's marks the third time one of their records has appeared in AOTW.  Hell, it was just two episodes ago that I was waxing nostalgic about their ten-minute performance of "Free Fallin'" at 10K Sounds Festial a couple years ago.

However, it all started rather inauspiciously. Here's what I wrote about Frankie Teardrop's song "Lines" back in March of 2014:

"I spent a week with Tough Guy a while back.  It's a fine, basically enjoyable throwback sort of record.  However, I've yet to see Frankie Teardrop live, which is evidently necessary to totally buy into what Frankie Teardrop's selling.

    "Lines" is a perfectly serviceable, straight ahead rocker.  That, however, is pretty much it.  There's no great chorus to boost the song up, no crazy guitar solos, nothing particularly memorable.  It just trucks along for a minute & forty seconds and then leaves.  Even Frankie's lyrics about abusing substances and pushing things too far ring a little hollow when delivered in such a workmanlike manner.  I don't know if it was MPR or the band that decided to push "Lines," but I know Frankie Teardrop can do better. Try giving "New Beverage" or "Killed A Man" a listen for a more interesting take on just what Frankie Teardrop is capable of doing."

Damn. That's pretty cold. Who would have thought that this band would go on to be one of the flagship bands of the blog?

I'd feel bad about that review, but Frankie Teardrop spent the next two years going out and doing exactly what I was hoping they'd do. Beginning with the Raiders EP they went from "serviceable" to a band that trafficked almost exclusively in crazy guitar solos and great choruses. It was thrilling to watch a band find their sound so quickly & so precisely.

Which brings us Hell Yep, their first and last full-length. The album opens with "Not A Love Song," which boils the Frankie Teardrop experience down to its essence. "This is not a love song, my heart just exploded..." sings Frankie Teardrop mastermind Jordan Bleau, and it's a quintessential FT couplet. They care too much, they don't care at all, here comes the hook, here comes the guitar. One song into the album and we've already got a classic on our hands.



The second track on the album, however, is the track that best explains how we got here. At 3:47 "Stay Dumb" is the longest song on the album by over a minute and with good reason. It's both mission statement and eulogy. It shows how the band has grown (check out the acoustic guitar/feedback/rolling drums intro) from delightfully simple garage rock band to power-pop geniuses.



"I don't wanna stay dumb..." Bleau sings in the chorus, detaching the line from anger or angst and weighting it to a melody that underlines his point. You see, here's the dirty little secret about Frankie Teardrop - they were never dumb. Sure, they may have been playing simple to make the point that there should always be a home for good old fashioned rock n roll music, but that "dumb rock" was never their calling. Bleau's guitar work in the jangling indie-pop band Gloss showed exactly what kind of talent he had. As half of the manpower/brainpower behind No Problem Records, he & Alex Uhrich have shown time & again that the last thing they want to do is release "dumb" rock music. "There's got to be more to life..." Bleau sings in the bridge, "I don't believe the hype..."

What makes the rest of the Hell Yep so much damn fun are the moments when the band shows just how smart they can be (without sacrificing any of the hooks). Listen to the keyboards that fill out "Get It (Kelly)," the drum machine intro at the beginning of "Diet" or my favorite, the absolute double pixie stick rush of the lead guitar & pre-chorus keyboards on "Waiting For You." Add up all those little flourishes and you'll realize that Frankie Teardrop has made one of the smartest "dumb" record you've ever heard.



At 12 songs in 22 minutes, Jordan Bleau & the boys have trimmed every ounce of fat from their sound and delivered a perfect debut LP. Everything about the band that worked in the past has been amplified while everything clumsy has been jettisoned. The whole thing's been given a pop sheen that makes it completely accessible for new fans, while still having all the personality that'll keep older fans coming back.

Twist those words a little bit, and you can see why Hell Yep also makes for a perfect ending point for Frankie Teardrop. They've pushed their sound as it can be pushed. All those little keyboard washes and acoustic intros I've been fawning over are clearly the work of a man who wants to push his sound further but feels he needs a clean break & a fresh slate to do so. To put it briefly, it's the kind of final statement that leaves you wanting more. And those are always the best kind.

I don't know what happens next for Jordan Bleau, but Frankie Teardrop made for quite an opening act. Boys, it was a hell of a run. Can't wait to see what comes next.

If you'd like to download Hell Yep or any of the other Frankie Teardrop releases, head over to their Bandcamp page.

For more TCDroogsma be sure to give him a follow on Twitter (@TCDroogsma).  Previous episodes of Flatbasset Radio are archived on his Mixcloud page.  Stop by Flatbasset Radio's Facebook Page & give it a "Like" if you have the time.

Flatbasset Radio Album Of The Week: "Born Single" by Suzie

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of September 22nd-28th, 2014:

Suzie - Born Single

01. Possession
02. Coffin In Houston
03. You Ain't Mine
04. I Am Going To Change
05. Fantasy
06. Under The Sea
07. Outro
08. The Feeling
09. Levy

No Problem Records with the hat trick!

Born Single is the third album to be released by Frankie Teardrop's No Problem Records.  The first was Teardrop's own Raiders EP, which stands as their best work to date.  That was followed by Dee Dee Mayo Sweats It Out, a spaced-out jungle party record from Howler guitarist Ian Nygaard.  And here we have Born Single, the debut album from Mark Ritsema of Night Moves.  Born Single follows Dee Dee Mayo's lead in establishing No Problem Records as a pace where musicians can let there hair down and hang their freak flag high.  

Though the records sound little alike, Dee Dee Mayo Sweats It Out and Born Single are companion albums in a way.  Like Nygaard & his Sweats It Out album, Suzie finds Ritsema taking a break from his very successful day job in Night Moves to craft a record that cares far more about grooves than hooks and lyrics.  Technically only one song on Born Single is an instrumental.  Regardless, I spent a week with the album and can't think of one lyric off the top of my head.  In fact, with the exception of the album's final two tracks, lyrics are an afterthought.  Where Dee Dee Mayo used vocals as an instrument to illustrate community via group singalongs, Ritsema uses his as yet another instrument in service of the groove.

In my write-up of Dee Dee Mayo Sweats It Out I wrote, "Imagine being on a beach with all your friends on a warm summer night.  Then imagine somebody has this tape "you have to hear, man!"  Now, imagine this friend puts the tape in the boombox.  As the tape warbles to life, you take a fistful of hallucinogenics. Picture all of that, but now imagine that beach is on the moon."  Well, Suzie seems to exist on that same spaced-out plane.  The difference is that instead of being in a moon jungle taking hallucinogens & bonding, these songs exist in a dark, sweaty club, taking uppers & grinding the night away. 

And yes, that club is also on the moon.

The good folks over at No Problem Records have released Born Single as a "Name Your Price" download.  If you're looking for something sexy to put on in an effort to get that certain someone out of all those oppressive layers of fashionable autumn attire, I highly suggest you swing over & pick it up.

Flatbasset Album Of The Week: September 1st-7th, 2014

Flatbasset Radio's Album Of The Week for the week of September 1st-7th, 2014:

Dee Dee Mayo - Dee Dee Mayo Sweats It Out

01. New York's Alright If You Like Shitty Reverb On Your Drums
02. Waking Up On The Beach/Jungle Party
03. The Aloe Drips (Nanana)
04. Love Is Slow
05. Sweet JuJu
06. All My Friends
07. It's Not Hard
08. Anyone Who Lives Without It

Dee Dee Mayo Sweats It Out is the new solo album from Howler guitarist Ian Nygaard and let me tell you, it's a curious little thing.

Imagine being on a beach with all your friends on a warm summer night.  Then imagine somebody has this tape "you have to hear, man!"  Now, imagine this friend puts the tape in the boombox.  As the tape warbles to life, you take a fistful of hallucinogenics.

Picture all of that, but now imagine that beach is on the moon.  That's kind of what you're dealing with on Dee Dee Mayo Sweats It Out.

(Yes, I realize the moon does not have beaches and is not warm. You also wouldn't be able to breath. Shut up.)

Like I said, it's a curious little record.  It's 85% spaced out, guitar-centric instrumentals that seem to catch on grooves and just ride them as far as they'll go.  It's, not "jaunty," but definitely upbeat.  Whenever vocals turn up they're basically repeated phrases that are half lead instruments and half mantra.  And again, you're on the moon.  Needless to say, I highly recommend checking this record out (especially while we have a few straggling summer days left).

Dee Dee Mayo Sweats It Out is the first full-length release from Frankie Teardrop's No Problem Records, which is a very encouraging sign.  It shows that they're not afraid to take chances on potentially niche records provided the records are great. It's even more encouraging that the record is available as a "Name Your Price" download over at their Bandcamp page.  It shows the No Problem Records is a labor of love (which is true of all the best record labels).

Anyways, I highly suggest you follow that link and name your price for the record.  Considering that it's a side-project, I suppose it's possible that this will be the only recording we ever hear out of Dee Dee Mayo.  Whether it's the start of a long career or a one-off, Dee Dee Mayo Sweats It Out is definitely worth your time.