Frankie Rose concocts a psychedelic mix of shoegaze moods, New Wave grandiosity and chorale serenity.
Frankie Rose, previously recording as Frankie Rose and the Outs, was a drummer and singer in Dum Dum Girls and you can hear the Go-Gos-style summer of electro punk joyfulness that group had, but there is a darker more shoegazer edge on her latest album, Interstellar. It’s not glistening electro-pop. Rose has an ethereal but powerful voice that stacks up against her big beats. It’s an evocative combination on songs like “Know Me,” the lead single, which is both triumphal and yearning. She loves 80s rhythms, like the alternating electro snare and bass drum 4/4 groove of the contemplative “Daylight Sky.”
Frankie Rose at Echoes
But even with the big beats she can drop into a delicate chorale hymn on “Pair of Wings” and the meditation of “Silver Apples for the Sun.” Could there be a touch of Enya in her listening?
But Frankie Rose always comes back to the new wave dance sound, even when it’s couched in psychedelic 60s reverb guitar and Joy Division grooves as on “Moon in My Mind.” Interstellar is a trip into Frankie Rose’s cosmic space.
~© 2012 John Diliberto ((( echoes )))