The first signs were not encouraging. The CD sleeve features four ultra-nubile, multi-coloured women straight from airbrush central. In the sleeve notes, each of the four thank so many people that the space left for the lyrics is so small they could be used for Specsavers sight tests. That their pedigree is one of emerging from the “reality” TV show Totally Frank does not help either. What’s worse, none of them are called Frank.
But when laser beam hits CD surface, all fears evaporate, as there’s little sign of the studio gloss that masks the real feel in American mass-market recordings. Frank may have less raunch than our very own The Jades, but they don’t overdo it like, say, the Pussycat Dolls, and generally let the songs earn their keep.
When they do use the studio they make it work for the song, like the vocal effects on the funky ‘Turn It Up’. Both ‘Don’t Wait Up’ and ‘I’m Not Shy’ are unashamedly catchy pop songs with groovy beats, so it doesn’t matter what they’re about. ‘Closer To Me’ swaggers with style, and ‘Palm Of Your Hand’ opens by repeating “kiss ass just to get ahead” and sends a warning to those who try to put one over. The despairing stridency of ‘All I Ever Do’, with its hint at domestic violence, adds conviction to a paean to faded love, while ‘If The Devil’s Got Your Gold’ is a clever ballad, if a little plodding.
Frank’s lifespan might not long outlast the show that incubated them, but we should enjoy it while they’re still around.