The Frames, Ireland: The real reward in discovering a band that's already five albums into its career is running around town trying to find the first four. That's exactly where you'll be after listening to the Frames' latest effort, Burn the Maps. Regularly recognized as the most popular and vital band in Ireland since U2, the Frames may also be Ireland's best-kept secret. They're ghetto superstars—a band that plays stadiums at home and holes-in-the-wall here in the States. It takes only 40 seconds of Burn the Maps to recognize this is a truly special band that has mastered slow burn and raging cinematic melody. And despite the larger-than-life charisma and unique confidence of frontman Glen Hansard, implicit authenticity and believability sit behind his every syllable, lilt, and pause. His range is unparalleled, and the band shifts from quaint to bombastic in magnificent sonic sweeps, with gooey money-shot choruses itching to be screamed along to by a stadium full of soccer hooligans. "Fake" ("Come on, the guy's a fake/What do you love him for?") should be an enormous radio hit stateside, but once you immerse yourself in the first four records, you'll start feeling a little protective. You'll wonder, like a 15-year-old who's just discovered his new favorite band, if maybe you should try in vain to keep this one a secret.

"The Frames' "Burn the Maps" is a mostly acoustic, slow-spun indie album that is one of the better things to come out under the Anti-Records banner lately." [Ryan Brosmer]

"Burn the Maps is definitely not an instant album, you do have to spend time with the album. It's kind of a cross between mope-rock and arena-rock." [Dennis Scanland]

"To all intents and purposes, playing to a capacity 1,200 crowd at this Czech theatre seems like a hometown gig for The Frames." [John Walshe]

A little about the origins of the band and what they're up to now...

BBC Northern Ireland

Glen Hansard barely spoke. Singer, guitarist and leader of the Frames, Hansard is normally an engrossingly loquacious frontman, generating offbeat tales, observations and general babble between (and occasionally during) songs. (article is the second one down on the above link).

Paragraph at the end about the Frames - they seem to be doing well!! :-)

a l t e r n a t i v e m u s i c @ e c l e c t i c h o n e y

nophotography.com

"The Frames have been fighting it out for 15 years, issuing albums that explode in the Czech Republic and nowhere else, go platinum in Galway but can't get noticed in the U.S.A. They should finally get their due with Burn the Maps. It's the determined Irish combo's first studio effort for Anti-, the Epitaph signature label that showcases such disparate and discerning acts as Joe Henry, the Locust, and Jolie Holland, and Glen Hansard and the lads fit in there just fine..." [Johnny Loftus]

"The first Frames studio album to receive decent distribution in the States, Burn the Maps finds the act expertly balancing fragile, spacious stretches against lush, full-blown, anthemic pop that’s somewhere between the arena and the bedroom." [Matt Schild]

"A parte gli U2, i Frames potrebbero essere oggi il più grande gruppo rock in Irlanda. Ma negli Stati Uniti sono noti tanto quanto Skip Bifferty, ed è indubbiamente un peccato. Se ci fosse giustizia in questo mondo, questi ragazzi dovrebbero essere conosciuti in America come la loro controparte inglese, i Coldplay, che i Frames superano quanto a talento e longevità." [Billboard.com translation]

review by Jon Pareles (subscription site)

"The Frames is undoubtedly Ireland’s best loved band. In world classification terms the band is up there with the very best, and in live performance terms few others can match its passion and ability to involve an audience." [www.shakenstir.co.uk]

"Of all the bands who stand a chance of gaining greater notoriety in 2005, The Frames are perhaps the most deserving. In fact, let's take that a step further: if you pay attention to only one band this year, and you want to feel good about your decision five or even ten years from now, make sure it's The Frames." [George Zahora]

"'Burn the Maps'. Con un titolo così poteva non essere un gran disco? a volte bisogna perdere i riferimenti per capire veramente dove stiamo andando, a volte è davvero necessario bruciare le mappe. Potrei scrivere una recensione solo sui testi di questo ultimo lavoro della band di Dublino, perchè semplicemente c'è qualcosa di molto autentico nella voce e nelle parole di Glen Hansard, qualità rara nella musica dell'ultimo decennio ispirata più dalle logiche dell'avvento dei videoclip che dall'onestà di volersi raccontare." [j.a.r.]

"As an experiment in defying formal expectations, Burn The Maps demonstrates how a climax delayed can be a climax extended." [Noel Murray]

"Their new record, the Anti-released Burn The Maps, is a huge album. Not that it's bulky or too long or "epic" in the sense of symphonic backing or guest star spots, it's just huge as in healthy, verdant, pulsing layers of genius-produced rock casseroled with elegant lyrics, soaring Godspeed builds and loudness as a general rule of conduct." [Adam Gnade]

"Long a revered name in their native Ireland, The Frames have finally arrived Stateside. For years, the lads balanced The Pixies’ bipolar tendencies (angry and loud yet melancholy and fragile) with Irish folk sensibilities, but it’s on Burn the Maps that the two devour each other to spit out a complete beast." [Tim Den]

"Sono una band irlandese, i Frames, e non alle prime armi. Questo è il loro quinto disco ed in patria godono di considerazione e successo. Anche dopo innumerevoli tour, sono ancora in attesa di un riscontro mondiale, pur avendo tutte le carte in regola per ottenerlo. In Burn The Maps sono raccolte dodici ballate elettroacustiche in chiaroscuro, dense poetiche, intensissime e rumorose. Sì, perché la musica dei Frames è emozionante ma non crepuscolare, non eccessiva ma sicuramente energica."

"Many Irishmen believe the Frames are the best thing to crawl from Dublin’s pubs since U2. They may be right." ****

"Outside of U2, the Frames may be the biggest rock act in Ireland right now. But here in the United States, they are about as well known as Skip Bifferty, which is an indubitable crime. If there were any justice in this world, these guys would be just as large in America as their British counterparts Coldplay, who they surpass both in talent and longevity." [Ron Hart]

inmusicwetrust.com

Review of the gig by Peter Crawley of the Irish Times.

"As the Bank Holiday protest erupted into the full swing of a truncheon, a (slightly) more sedate but equally as committed gathering thronged to the Castle to soak up the songs and bonhomie of Mundy, Bell X1, Damien Rice, late addition Paddy Casey and of course, the real stars of this Green Energy Festival and everyone’s favourite explosively emotive troubadours, The Frames."

click the link for the full article.

website with frames album/live reviews

A nice review of Fitzcarraldo from a few years back.Thanks to Damien for finding this one!.

a review made by fabrizio from the italian band mardi gras

shakenstir.co.uk

Interview with Glen and Dave Hing in issue 3 - archived from the front page

clus.com

Glens Interview With PlayRewind

from ohyeah.net

Glen Hansard solo gig review.

great irish music site

BBC Northern Ireland

"Werner Herzog's epic film, Fitzcarraldo, depicted a man pushing a ship over a mountain in the Peruvian jungle. Inspired by the idea that we are all pushing our own ships over metaphorical mountains, The Frames' frontman Glen Hansard wrote a song of the same name - that could also serve as a description of the band's career. Problems with record labels (and America's predilection for a certain four-piece group led by a goggle-eyed politician as the only thing to come out of Ireland in the last 20 years) kept The Frames widely unknown except in their native land. All that changed when the band took charge of its own destiny and released 2001's For the Birds, on their own imprint." [Janine Schaults]

"It can be a letdown when one learns of a band from overseas that doesn't receive the same praise in the States as it does in its home country. Once in a while however, a band can break into a music scene abroad as an opening act for another artist, or through a mix tape from a friend. Irish rockers The Frames are one such example..." [Matt O'Rourke]

"Irish audiences have been doing it for years. And now, American fans have caught on -- singing full throttle to songs by indefatigable Irish indie rockers, The Frames." [Chuck Myers]

"It seems that every rock band coming up in Ireland over the past 20 years has stood in the shadow of U2..." [Jon Matsumoto]

A good review by Stuarts Bailie.

"This is all a bit strange," remarks Glen Hansard, frontman for the Frames, Dublin's other rock band, as he suits up for his second show of the evening at New York's intimate Joe's Pub. Hansard is referring to the band's recent rapid ascension into the limelight—particularly in their native Ireland—after years spent toiling in the wings. [Tony McMenamin]

BBC Northern Ireland

"He's a COME ON! kinda guy. He's intensely passionate and committed about everything..."

Currently 3 reviews of setlist... (includes links to amazon for buying online)

News & reviews of great music incl. The Frames. Also Art & Writing.

Review of the band and their latest album "For the Birds".

Two years running the Frames have left their Minneapolis fans awestruck...

Dark, moody and Celtic, the Frames are cornering the market with their "indie angst", writes Richard Jinman.

cluas.com poll

"For me, the best performance during SXSW was a daytime gig by Ireland's The Frames at Red Eye Fly." [Chip Midnight]

The Frames's CD For the Birds featured in episode 19 of National Public Radio's All Songs Considered. Feel free to check it out...

Review for Other Voices: Songs from a Room cd featuring The Frames.

"The Frames zijn naar hun eigen zeggen 'just a band'. Altijd gewoon gebleven, altijd vriendelijk. Dat waren ze ook deze avond." [Alexis Vos]

Good wee review with a song by song run down of for the birds.

"Ireland's Frames have been around for so long and released enough records that at this point the best entree for the curious is just to catch the act live." [Joshua Klein]

Review of the Fake single.

Review of Setlist.

Review of the Frames show in Atlanta, Georgia in October, 2003.

Review of the band and their album 'For the Birds' written in April 2001. Also has links to a track by track guide to the songs on 'For The Birds' by Glen Hansard.

The Frames dazzle with understatement. (by J. Edward Keyes)

photos from the night...

Stop the presses: a five star review. Can the darlings of Ireland's music scene really be this good? (Bruce Elder)

There is a line. There is a definite line. A fine line, if you will. The line between objective journalism and partisanship. With Ireland's Frames, I confess, I'm about as far over that line as a journalist can go without volunteering to jump on the bus and help them haul gear for the rest of their tour. Day job be damned. [Reviewed by David de Young]

As we waited in front of the Pageant before the show, we watched a healthy crowd arrive early for the Damien Rice show—sold out of its initial 1,000 tickets, which meant the Pageant opened the balcony and kept on selling. We hoped it was because they had all heard something about Rice’s fellow Irishmen the Frames, a band with all the heart (if not more) of early U2.

Review of the gig / the band.

"There was a palpable energy in the air tonight as it almost felt like the band were holding back slightly, before crashing into the song’s chorus with loud and distorted guitars. Across the stage as Hansard delivered the angst filled lyrics, Doyle and Bochnik were miming along really fealing what was happening. It’s always a very exciting thing to see bands get into their own music on stage." [jofixi]

The first warm and totally springy day in New York brought the best concert I've been to so far this year. I had waited with more than baited breath for the coming together of two of my current favorite Irish contemporary acts, The Frames and Damien Rice and the show was everything I could have hoped for. [Alice Farrell]

"The Frames have no shortage of outstanding qualities: tension-and-release drama, a life-affirming live show, an eye and ear for detailed moments that add up to one hell of a big picture. The most outstanding of all, though, might be patience." [Jordan Zivitz]

"Per la prima volta Roma i The Frames la band di Glen Hansard, ex The Commitments, per presentare il nuovo album "Burn The Maps" (Anti/Self)." [Paolo Ansali]

"Back home in Ireland, the Frames are superstars. Their albums top the charts and they can fill stadiums with rabid fans who sing along to every song." [Patrick MacDonald]

An evening with the Frames is not so much a music concert as a non-stop lovefest (by Bruce Elder).

Review of the first Sydney gig in The Metro (by John Shand).

Conceptually, the collection of B-sides, outtakes, and arbitrary live tracks is an underwhelming proposition. (Amanda Petrusich)

It has taken Irish band the Frames more than a decade to distil their moody sound into a classic album...