Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 05/27/2008
On his third album,
Ron Franklin is messing with the
blues again, though that's hardly all he has on his mind.
Ron Franklin opens with
"Western Movies," a tune that cops its title from an oldie by
the Olympics, and its sound and style from
Buddy Holly before making way for
"Call It a Night," an acoustic number which could pass for an early
Bob Dylan copyright in dim light, and while
Franklin's Memphis loyalties shine through the cracks in both tracks, he manages to sound like someone who respects the
blues tradition while still finding the space to play with its conventions at the same time. (This becomes all the more evident on
"Dark Night, Cold Ground" and
"The Elocutionist," which hit closer to the roots of traditional
blues while still twisting the framework with their fuzzy tone and aggressive simplicity.) Nearly all the songs on
Ron Franklin capture the man performing all by his lonesome, either on acoustic or electric guitar, with occasional overdubbed percussion while
Franklin's reedy vocals and harmonica hover over it all. The results are simpler but more satisfying than 2007's
City Lights; where on that album
Franklin's challenges to convention sometimes played out like a hipster's parody, with less gingerbread his sincerity, as well as his imagination, are more evident, even as ghosts of
pop,
folk, and
garage rock are plainly visible on the horizon and lyrical lifts from classic songs dot the landscape. Stark, simple, and subtly witty,
Ron Franklin suggests this artist has a bright future as long as he remembers that less can be more.
~Mark Deming, All Music Guide
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