Frank Turner - Poetry of the Deed
FCC: 2, 7
Recommended Tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13
Wow.
Starting with a fantastically placed piano ballad, and ending with some of the most hopeful, intelligent lyrics of the genre, this album is (as the English punk rawkers would say) bloody fantastic. Fast, gritty, slow, emotional, angry, happy; it’s all over the spectrum, in a very purposeful and punk way. This is a gem in a slew of boring stereotypical punk/rock/pop blah blah that gets better with every listen.
The overall theme of being yourself is conferred through the pen of Turner; who wrote some fantastic lyrics such as ‘We can never sell out/Because we never bought in’ (Track 1), ‘So enough with words and technical theses/Let’s grab life by the throat and live it to pieces’ (Track 4), and the genius of Track 13 - Journey of the Magi. If those lyrics aren’t enough to pull you in then the music will. Turner and his backup band know how to get it done with their speedy punk and acoustic rock. With the high level of charisma and emotion through which they play, added to the thoughtful, intelligent lyrics, and the knowledge he truly believes what he is saying, it’s hard to gripe about any of the thirteen tracks that comprise the album. Without tripping a step, Frank Turner proves that punk rock isn’t just punk, it’s rock, and it is ready to surprise you. These songs will be in ears for years to come. And with that, the final lyrics sound off, ‘Paupers and kings, princes and thieves, singers of songs, and righters of wrongs, be what you believe. So saddle your horse and shoulder your load, burst at the seams, be what you dream, and take to the road.’