The Franklys – “Are You Listening?” [Album Review]

When all-girl quartet The Franklys hit the stage last year opening for Aussie rockers Airbourne, they may have been the opening act but they certainly had the early attendees attention with their raucous brand of garage rock. Well, a few months later and the band are back with their debut album, the appropriately named Are You Listening?, a ten-track blast of riffs, garage rock, hair and groove.

Setting their stall out right from the off with the brash opener “Castaway”, Are You Listening? is made up of slice after slice of sweaty, foot-stomping rock. Distorted guitars, L7-esque vocals, Blondie-esque attitude, it’s got it all. “Weasel”, “Puppet” and “Don’t Kill Your Friends” are all glorious examples of raw Euro rock. Lead vocalist Jennifer leads the female quartet through their paces with a snearing almost-punkish style which, when matched with the raw, distorted riffs and pounding drums, just creates a sound that may come across a bit rough around the edges but certainly grabs your attention as was demonstrated on their live shows last year. Right from the get-go, The Franklys keep up the breathtaking pace throughout the album closing it off with the attitude filled swagger of “Comedown” and the stomping “Bad News”.

Rock n’ roll bands are sometimes missing the attitude these days but that’s definitely not an accusation you can level at The Franklys. Are You Listening? isn’t really a question that needs answering because, if you aren’t then you damn well should be.

Are You Listening? Track Listing:

01. Castaway
02. Weasel
03. Puppet
04. Keeper
05. You Go, I Leave
06. Don’t Kill Your Friends
07. Too Tall
08. Imaginarium
09. Comedown
10. Bad News

Run Time: 33:52
Release Date: May 12, 2017

Check out the track “Castaway”