How crude can lyrics be before they start to detract from the artistry of a song? Frog, the three-piece American indie rock band, asks their listeners that very question in their seventh album, The Count. Typically, the band, consisting of frontman Daniel Bateman, drummer Steve Bateman, and bassist Thomas White, has stuck to rich, layered music about desire and loneliness, but with this project, those more melodic sounds and somewhat sweet themes are abandoned for chunky chords and crass language.
This album explores a rut, not a relationship; with an almost put-on immaturity, Daniel Bateman begins the project with innuendo and flair, describing the beginning of a mostly physical relationship in ‘BITTEN BY MY LOVE VAR. XI.’ This immaturity is played on throughout the album and heightened in the second track, ‘SAX-A-MA-PHONE VAR. XII’ with the addition of a jazzy sound and bouncy keys. The Bateman brothers take you back to high school and force you into the mindset of teenage boys with their puns and reedy vocals— surprisingly, that’s what makes the second half of the project so powerful. A sexual relationship is developed throughout the album with lyrics like “She’s touching my body / Do anything for me” in ‘COME COME COME VAR. XIV,’ but it’s almost immediately curbed beginning at ‘CHELSEA PIERS VAR. XVIII.’
“Is there someone at your side?” Bateman asks. “I just need you by my side,” bringing in the feelings of jealousy and yearning the band is known for. As the project unfolds, the music starts to deconstruct. With fewer layers and more isolated vocals, the minimal production seems to reveal the work’s true colours. Behind its almost vulgar beginnings is desire; in ‘BARUCH ATTACK (IN THE MIDDLE SONG)’ we’re confronted with Bateman, or his character’s loneliness: He just wants “to love somebody.”
“You’ll discover why I lovе you madly,” Bateman sings, “Because I’m lonely,” and isn’t that just the last thing one would expect? This album is the inner monologue of that one guy you can’t seem to get a read on. It’s the deep sadness at the core of the guy who ghosted your friend, and the loser kid who just wants someone to love. The genius of this album is its ability to seamlessly thread these emotions through vulgarity, in a way that shocks you into understanding exactly who you’re listening to…
“genre-indie-rock” by alliecreative is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.