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Frail by Design - Frail by Design

Rating

RIYL

Dirty Three
Japancakes
Sweek
Neil on Impression
Cue

Tracklist

1. What it Means to Hope
2. A Longing for Peace
3. Losing Your Best Friend
4. Waiting Patiently

I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. Every year I listen to more and more music than I did the year before. I most probably listened to only about 50 albums when I first started seriously getting into music back in 2005, but by the end of this year I’ll probably have listened to around 250 new albums. However, I’ve found that though I’ve been liking a lot more music, I’ve been loving a lot less. Not to discredit any new albums, but as much as I’m enjoying them, most are not going to have the same affect on me as the ones I listened to in years before. Not because they’re not as good (in fact most of them are much better), but since I listened to so few albums back then, I constantly listened to the same ones over and over again until they were ingrained in my brain and burrowed their way into my heart. In a way, ignorance was bliss.

So why is it that we listen to so much music? Why are we so wrapped up in finding the newest or hippest bands around to the extent that we completely forget the reason why we first started to delve deep? Why are we simply not content with the bands we love? As cynical as all this may sound, the answer is actually pretty simple: Frail by Design. The reason why we listen to so much music is chance – the chance that the next album we listen to will be one of our favorite albums ever. So we just pick one up, listen to it, put it down, and then repeat the process until we find a record that is actually special. If I never did anything like this, I’d be missing out on quite a few albums that I really enjoy, one of which would be Frail by Design’s self-titled debut EP.

Frail by Design is a young band from a small time instrumental scene in Madison, Wisconsin, who has only ever released four songs. Their sound is very simple and organic, with much emphasis on their folky western (reminds me of Oregon Trail for some reason) usage of a viola/violin, reminiscent of the legendary Australian post-rock band, Dirty Three, and their unique percussive accompaniment. For a band with seven members their music is incredibly restrained and mature - no member every tries to exceed his or her role, thus causing the music to flow naturally and nothing to sound out of place.

Even though Frail by Design is capable of creating giant walls of sound, their mission isn’t to make epic buildups or wow you with a bunch of guitar effects. Instead, they simply take complete control over your emotions by pulling all your heartstrings. Just take a gander at their song titles and you can see that emotions are placed in the forefront. This being said, the songs never come off as cheesy or cliché.

The album begins with “What it Means to Hope”, which displays the most youthful vigor in its upbeat and succinct frame. The second track, “A Longing for Peace,” is the highlight of Frail by Design’s debut. Continuing where “What it Means to Hope” left off, “A Longing for Peace” begins with pounding drums and a soaring viola. But it’s at the three minute mark where everything slows down and the emotions take over - guitars slowly reverberate back and forth until a viola begins to weep, climaxing when the percussion beautifully takes over. The effect is simply gorgeous.

The last two tracks on Frail by Design’s debut are almost equally as powerful. I remember almost tearing up while listening to “Losing Your Best Friend” while waiting in line at a Panda Express, and I can assure you that the beckoning tears were not a result of the line being extremely long. The song is very meditative and paints a picture – one where you’re looking out to the street from your window, waiting for your long departed friend to finally come back home, or one of embracing for the last time before you part ways.

The final track, “Waiting Patiently,” begins very patient and somber, but slowly morphs into an upbeat track, putting the emotional thrill ride to an end and having your toes tapping and your face smiling. The only bone I can possibly pick with this album is that there isn’t much diversity from track to track. All the tracks have their own distinct sound and feel, but the overall effects employed in each are kind of the same. However, with the record only being around 20 minutes long, this isn’t really a problem as the sound never gets tiresome or tedious. But I expect big things from Frail by Design in years to come. Until then though, this debut record is top-notch and has been very special to me.

So why is it that we each form such obsessive music habits? Because we each will find our own Frail by Design.

--Armand Babian

Author

babarm87

Last updated: 09/29/2009 08:59PM