Some bands break into the scene with a fresh sound, but then don’t change much from there. Your enjoyment of their new efforts will rely entirely on how much you love their base sound. Frost* is one such band. They released their masterpiece debut Milliontown in 2006, and I feel like they’ve been chasing the novel flavor of that album ever since. Their new album Life in the Wires was released on October 18th through Inside Out Music.
Frost* has a terrific lineup that should deliver knock out records every single time. That would be Jem Godfrey on vocals, keys, and guitars, Nathan King on bass and vocals, John Mitchell on guitars and vocals, and Craig Blundell on drums. All four of these musicians are top tier, no question about it.
But my problem doesn’t lie in their ability to play their instruments. Life in the Wires represents more Frost*, and for people who really, really love Frost*, that is good news. This double album that clocks in around 85 minutes in length contains fourteen tracks of Frost-isms. You’ll hear the pealing keys that feel sassy and edgy, or did 15+ years ago. You’ll hear John’s amazing guitar work, though maybe his Lonely Robot albums showcase it better. You hear the thundering rhythm section, which is the lifeblood of Frost*’s sound, and they are impeccable, honestly. What you won’t hear, though, is anything new or even remotely as exciting as you’ve heard from them in the past.
Let me qualify that somewhat. Milliontown is just under an hour in length, but somehow, it feels like 30 minutes, max. Life in the Wires is almost 1.5 hours, but it feels like well over 2 hours. What is the difference? Look, too, at some of their other albums: Experiments in Mass Appeal had diversity and incredible hooks going for it. Falling Satellites was the return of Frost*, and had some prog “no-nos” in it that made it feel naughty and fascinating. “Day and Age” had a cinematic strain that kept me interested, though I’ve found myself ignoring that album of late. What is it about their newer stuff?
Frost* used to thrive on density and diversity of strong ideas, and excellent hooks. They strung these ideas together with smooth, bright writing that made their music feel both perfectly natural and incredibly novel. It felt so new and exciting and unafraid of what the progheads would think. With Life in the Wires, the band tries to impress the proghead crowd only, hence the clichéd and tired double album format. And like the vast majority of double albums, they throw heaps of material at us without editing it into something better, and there are very few good hooks.
This album, to be blunt, is far too long. Had they cut 30 minutes out, it would have been a much better record overall. Many of the songs sound virtually indistinguishable, but the album as a whole is punctuated by memorable moments that would have been far more effective with some self-editing. In other words, they lost their edge and now simply deliver the wankery and clichés that prog fans often expect. It’s not bad music, but perhaps it’s less artistic and interesting.
Not to ramble on too much about this, but I’m also growing tired of the “We’re old and the world used to be so much better” schtick. It’s one thing to share memories and nostalgia, but it’s another thing to make a social commentary about how much better your generation was, which is typical Gen X, so I guess I should have expected it. The album is one big eyeroll in that department. Any other messages or nuances are basically lost.
Now, I’m not saying this is a bad album, per se. It is rock solid and the band plays exceptionally well, as expected. But it is also one of those albums where you might point to a segment from this song, or a portion of that one, as your favorite parts. Many of the songs feel composed to fill a spot, not exist as an artistic, well-developed entity unto themselves. I rather like “The Solid State Orchestra” and its powerful keyboards, but I don’t remember much else about the song. “Evaporator” is good, too, and even epic at times, but I barely remember the first half of it. “Strange World” feels like it could have been a two-minute interlude that focused on its strong melody, but it’s elongated to five minutes for no reason. “Sign of Life” feels the same way—could have been a short and effective piece, but it’s bloated to six minutes for little reason.
I do think the best portion of the album is “Sign of Life” to “Starting Fires”, though, the last four tracks. “Sign of Life” has a great hook, and bloat aside, is enjoyable. “Moral and Consequence” is basically the “Black Light Machine” of the album with its rollercoaster instrumentals and sass. I really like it. “Life in the Wires”, Part One which lands as track two, but Part Two which lands as track thirteen, is also pretty good. Again, there is no need for Part Two to be sixteen minutes long, so the bloat is here, too, but it ends in suitably epic fashion. The closer “Starting Fires” is a beautiful piece with hope in its veins, and I like it well enough.
So, this is a site that talks about progressive music mostly, and you’re probably wondering how I could dislike a double album with long songs and overly flashy instrumentals. Look, one of my all-time favorite albums is the 2.5 hour double album Oblivious to the Obvious from Hourglass; it has nothing to do with the length of the album and everything to do with filler, bloat, and sameness. Life in the Wires is probably the least successful Frost* album to date simply because it is essentially the same Frost-isms over and over with only a few interesting ones strewn throughout the runtime. I find it extremely difficult to sit through the album in one sitting, but there are parts I enjoy that will probably make their way into my playlists.
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Find Frost* online:
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The PROG Mind 