On their well-received 2001 LP--the Steve Albini-recorded For the Birds-- Ireland's the Frames got miles of melodrama out of only a couple of guitar chords. Unfortunately, on their latest release, Burn the Maps, they're far more ambitious. The tracks here frequently sounds as intimate as those on For the Birds, but don't stay that way for long, often ballooning into sweeping arrangements and choruses that find singer Glen Hansard screaming to the cheap seats. It can make for awkward listening.
Lost amidst the large-scale production, Hansard sounds particularly bare. On the earnest "Finally"-- the record's best tune-- the Frames strike the right balance between strangled, melodramatic notes and Hansard's sincere vocals. But most other songs on Burn the Maps suffer from bloated arrangements: The delicate folk of "Trying" gives way to U2 stadium-scraping guitar, and "Fake" leaps from three-week-overdue pauses in its verse into a swaggering chorus. "Dream Awake" and "Keepsake" also reach overwrought climaxes they never deserved. Please, guys, please-- one song without strings in the chorus! Just one. I know you have a violinist in your midst, but there has to be another way to bring the bombastitude.
"Ship Caught in the Bay" is an interesting experiment, with an Eastern-tinged drum loop and whispered, suspenseful lyrics. Like every track on the LP, it loudens and widens, but this time it's into a hard drum loop and electronic soundscapes rather than stadium rock. "Underglass"-- the only track that sounds like a rocker from beginning to end-- provides some well-needed catharsis.
The Frames could have used more tracks with consistent, engaging tones. Instead Burn the Maps often sounds like simplicity transformed into bloat in an attempt to sound interesting. It rarely works: Most of these tracks simply move from captivating to frustrating to regrettable.
