by Alex Danger Stewart

What: A review of Warren Franklin’s album ‘Stray’

Why: Because he asked me to.

Is it Available Now? Yes

*Note: I listened to this on computer speakers because I don’t have room in my apartment for a stereo. Because of this, I refrained from saying much about the sound quality *

Album reviews are an odd thing. Or at least they often seem that way. Film has some nearly objective ideas from which one can judge the merits of storytelling, shot composition, etc on a more academic level. Even the quality of live shows is somewhat dependent on the reaction of the crowd. A performer garnering their praise or alienation can, in turn, be used as a foundation for a positive review. But reviewing an album is a different beast. Ideally, I suppose that one is supposed to give an impression or preview of what the album has in store for potential listeners and shoot for some sense of object definition in regards to quality-despite the fact that contemporary criticism is clearly entirely subjective, one still wants to be decisive in their style. Halfhearted statements prefaced with the phrase, “in my opinion,” are just bad writing. The downfall can come at the hands of alternately falling too far towards feigned objectivity or being unable to escape the hugely personal nature of music listening. I’ve maneuvered around this issue in different ways throughout the year. In high school I copied reviews from Entertainment Weekly and Spin (two magazines that I was sure my elderly journalism teacher didn’t read). Later when writing practice reviews and personal blogs, I only reviewed those albums of which I knew inside out and could explicate in any number of different ways. Now I just hijack another man’s review for my own individual musings. It works in some ways, it’s clearly better than indefinite, halfheartedness.

No one would accuse Warren Franklin of being halfhearted (nice segue!). His debut album, Stray, falls solidly into the category of uber earnest acoustic guitar fellow. This earnestness is both commendable and risky. As an often glib fellow who takes time to point out his own clever writing, I find the sincerity to be quite notable. This guy clearly cares. Songwriters can rarely go wrong with writing honestly from the heart (the quote at the top of the page is one of my favorite non sequitur lines in recent memory). One of the most commendable facets of his album is the restraint shown in its production. Apart from scattered organ, cello, and tambourine, most songs consist only of Franklin’s voice and guitars. The lushly arranged moments come at times that feel natural and rarely dishonest. The album also makes strengths of two of Franklin’s more prominent drawbacks. The harshness of his yell and his sometimes overly strong attack on the guitar can be off-putting live but they are put to good use. In lieu of drums, an acoustic guitar lays down a solid rhythmic base, especially on a song like, “Damned.” Franklin finds a fine platform for bellowing like a psychopath in songs like, “Asleep” in which he brings to mind Isaac Brock’s more unhinged moments and, “Stray” which one could understandably mistake for a cut off of the quieter half of the Foo Fighters’ In Your Honor. It finds less success in, “God Given Right” and “You Spoke of the Lord,” where the harshness feels out of place next to smoother vocal elements.

Franklin should get special praise for thanking himself in the liner notes of the album as well as getting Brandon Lutmer to sing, “Whoa oh ohhhh,” on “You Spoke of the Lord.” I’m sure it was a moment that few other people other than me will laugh at.

Conclusion: If you see Warren perform somewhere, buy this album. Or buy me a drink. I’m sure I’ll be there.

Contact Warren Franklin at myspace.com/warrenfranklin

Alex Danger Stewart is a contributing writer to Sock Monkey Sound. Email him at thedangerzone@sockmonkeysound.com