Record Shopping: Frankie & The Heartstrings

Somewhere up north, Frankie and The Heartstrings are recovering from a weekend playing at Amsterdam's London Calling festival, their first overseas appearance. Hopefully, they showed Holland what being from the UK, not just the capital is all about. Sacking off the shiny synths of a lot of the pop charts the band; vocalist Frankie Francis (vocals), Dennis Mennis (bass), Dave Harper (drums), Michael McKnight (guitar), Pete Gofton (bass) come from a long line up classy bands, and write sharp songs in the mould of Orange Juice, Fire Engines and Josef K. Now recording their debut album with James Ford, "he's trendy. He worked with the arctic rolls" says Michael, they release double A side single Tender/Want You Back today.

[Psst Ladies, if you're looking, here's them looking sexy for our Record Shopping at Rough Trade. Go on, they're lovely.]



Michael

SHRAG - Hopelessly Wasted

I have chosen this record because I love the B side. It's called "Hopelessly Wasted" and it's quite croonerish which I always like in a song. It sounds like that "wise men say" one by Elvis at the start but after it's just a droney pop song. Brilliant.

Neu: Were they supporting the Yummy Fur when you saw them?

M: No I've never seen them. But I will!

Edwyn Collins - Home Again

M: This is my inspirational selection as I've basically plagiarised his entire his back catalogue and passed it off as my own work. We owe him not only a firm handshake but probably some royalties. [Laughs] there is an amazingly sweet documentary called 'Home Again' which is about the recovery from his stroke. It's amazingly uplifting. Anyone could watch it and enjoy it, not just people who like Edwyn Collins. He's a massive inspiration on everything about our band.



N: Everything?

M: Everything. We always thought that's how bands should be and sound like and look like. It's sophisticated guitar pop music and just top banana. "Edwyn Collins is top banana" says Michael McKnight. Make sure you put that in.

N: He can put that on his next album. Or you could just put it on your album.

Frankie: That's going to be the name of it.

The Headcoatees

M:This might not be the best of Billy Childish's work but it is Billy Childish's work so it is the work of genius. As with everything he does it's amazing. He's a huge inspiration on the band even though we don't sound like anything he's done.

F: We do take literal inspiration from him though, you know, the lyrics and stuff.

M: He's got a poem called 'I Am The Strange Hero of Hunger'. We used the lyrics in that poem as a template for writing songs. We have a song called 'Hunger' for example.



N: Is he middle banana?

M: No! He's top of the tree too. Smith would have been there but they didn't have any Fall records. [note to Rough Trade. Get some Fall records]

N: Frankie?

MC5 - Kick Out The Jams

F: When I first went to college some friends of mine saw me as an impressionable young scamp gave me this and some Doors records. They said "go away and listen to this". I put this on an it blew my mind really. Just the intensity of it and Everything that went with it. From then on I wanted to be in a band. It changed my outlook on life. I discovered lots of amazing records and and it stems from MC5. I was only 15 or 16 which is late for getting properly into music but it blew my mind.

M: You just saw it on a tshirt didn't you?

F: Shh. In terms of live records it's up there.

M: I heard a rumour it wasn't live...

Jim O'Rourke - Eureka

This next record is Eureka by Jim O'Rourke. I've got all of his work and it's a big inspiration. You can put the records on at any time of the day or night. With this record the first track is 12 minutes long, it loops but gains momentum. 5 o clock in the morning or five o clock at night it just sounds awesome. It's always on my record player.

N: And it has an awesome cover.



F: Aye it does. I thought about getting it as a tattoo. Jim O'Rourke has done some pretty gnarly stuff.

FINALLY

Tensnake

F: I DJ quite a lot. Much to Michael's displeasure...

M: I hate going to Frankie's DJ sets... they suck. Our manager came up to a bar where Frankie was DJing and for 2 hours we had to listento this shit dance. Finally he put "Rip it Up" on and came over and asked it we were having a good time. We were like "we are now". He was only brave enough to come over when he was playing something he knew we liked.

F: I am a fan of electronic and house and I've come across this guy called Tensnake. It's got a new discoey vibe.

Tensnake "Coma Cat" EP coming Jan 25th on Permanent Vacation by Tensnake

M: This might be his indie record! Like Ocean Colour Scene or something!

F: Na, "Holding Back My Love" is on there. It sounds like it's from the 70s but it's really current. I like discovering tracks by him.



N: So you don't DJ, Michael?

M: I DJed in newcastle at a trendy place called The Cut and we got paid to stop. We played The Raincoats, The Fall.. good stuff but the bloke was like "thanks for coming but if we gave you £50 can you stop". So I went and blew my profits on booze.

F: I wasn't present. It would have been a roaring success if I was.



Frankie & The Heartstrings play "The Festivals" this summer and tour with The Futureheads in May. Buy the single from http://popsexltd.com. It's limited to 888 copies and 20 of them – ordered from the Pop Sex store will contain Golden Tickets that allow the holder and a friend to attend a F&THs headline show of their choice.