Folk-rock firebrand Frank Turner isn’t everyone’s idea of a man of the people. An old Etonian, libertarian and mouthy metaller turned folky, he has called the left “retarded,” while putting the boot into British Prime Minister David Cameron and claiming the British National Party are hard-left. Hmmmm...
Let’s ignore the politics and listen to the tunes. Turner belts out anthems with the passion of Springsteen and the sincerity of Billy Bragg, even though his lyrics don’t always match his ambition. “I’m trying to get better because I haven’t been my best,” he bellows on ‘Get Better’. “We can get better because we’re not dead yet.”
He goes off-piste on the painfully twee ‘The Opening Act Of Spring’; the minimal opening track, ‘The Angel Islington’, is better; ‘Glorious You’ shows off his hard rock roots fronting post-hardcore band Million Dead; and ‘Silent Key’ is an overdue breath of fresh air with some very welcome female backing vocals. In terms of getting better, next time out a less is more approach might just help, rather than gruffly barking out every single line and force-feeding the listener self-help maxims...