Album Review: At Sixes and Sevens

Frank On Tap are a band very much on the move, spending the last couple of years building up momentum through releasing singles and regular live work around their home base of Tāmaki Makaurau. Along the way they have invested a significant amount of time writing, recording and refining their first full-length album At Sixes and Sevens at Roundhead Studios with producer De Stevens at the helm.

Throughout this album Frank On Tap show a skilled approach to arrangement using twin guitars, drums, bass, and a considered approach to single and two part vocal lines. The songs favour mid-range tempos which leaves space for big ringing chords in the choruses, complementary melodic/riffy interactions and also sharing the upper partials of chords for a real harmonic richness. This is how you can go for those really big soaring choruses. It’s highly effective when done well, and over these songs it’s done very well indeed.

Opening number Breathe introduces the band in such a way as to leave no doubt about their approach to making and performing music (I’m not going to give it away – listen and hear it). Outlined is a clear template of expansive guitar-based indie rock, with relevant and useful nods to the likes of Radiohead and Powderfinger.

Mary and Me (previously released as a single) follows and expands on the sound revealing a band that is comfortable with guitar hooks, and melodic work. It’s also a band that understands how to groove. The rhythm section sits together but behind the beat just a little bit, which gives that little bit of extra space for those big guitar chords. It’s a powerful music effect, and really is the kind of thing that can only work when musicians play together and listen closely to each other. It clearly shows as a strength for this band in terms of live performance.

Melodically, the approach to the songs on this album is equally considered and effective. The vocals have a dreamlike quality in terms of timbre (old folks might remember the word “shoegaze”) which matches everything nicely. The melodic lines are frequently harmonised – almost, but not quite, a twin vocal approach at times – and the vocal arrangement has the subtlety, care and attention to detail that is apparent all through this album.

All of these elements really come together on 4T which is a high point of this album. The song is expertly crafted and flows with the kind of inevitability that allows the chorus to land with maximum impact. It would have been very tempting indeed to overdo the dynamic on this one, but it’s handled nicely with just the right amount of restraint. The overall effect is genuinely cinematic.

It is rare in this album for the tempos to get into the ‘fast’ zone, and this might be an area to explore in the future, but in At Sixes and Sevens, Frank On Tap have shown themselves to have a solid control of an alternative rock-meets shoegaze kind of vibe and sound. It’s considered and mature work which has been composed, arranged and recorded with care and attention to detail. It’s going to reward on multiple listens, and the next stages for this band should prove interesting indeed.