Frank & The Hurricanes

Three years on from their last outing for Feeding Tube, Frank & The Hurricanes are back, and just in time to save summer nights and sunbaked afternoons. The band continues to refine their sound, turning in the tightest ten tunes I’ve heard out of Frank yet. Balancing the country-fried countenance, dug out of backyard barbecue bluster of Frank’s early work with a more tender temperance that reared its head on Love Ya Love Ya, the new record feels like it might just be The Hurricanes’ best yet. There’s still a crop of drop-topped, sunshine swillers that embrace the shrympin’ n’ drinkin’ that’s always at the core of Frank’s work. “Big Hangover” and “Tear Britches Trail” embrace the wayward ramble that’s been central to their cult following, but as River of Love slides into its second side, that’s when the album really comes into its own.

“Angel” is a tender, timeless song that deals with a departed friend. It starts slow and unassuming with a few rattled off strums before peeling back the inner tenderness that’s also been one of Frank’s most endearing attributes. His bluster and big party persona drop, as they have in the past on songs like “Luna Belle,” but even then there was still an edge of ramble and a wink of lasciviousness. That all drops away on the heartfelt centerpiece of the record. Things get looser as the record wears on, walking into some of the jam-centric territory that also found a central role on Love Ya Love Ya. Cooked with just the right dash of river-runnin’, backroads country amble, this album feels like Frank in his element. I have a feeling this one won’t be leaving the speakers this summer, or quite likely long after that either.

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