Review Summary: Is "Poetry of the Deed" "Poetry of the Dead" in a geordie accent?
This is folk music for punk fans, in that you’re listening to a guy with a sub-par ear for melody singing your typical contrived lyrics about apathy and not caring what the world thinks and battling oppression and okay then I’m bored of that now. Frank Turner is just another folk singer, and in truth he’s listenable, but he gets attributed more depth than he warrants and I get the nagging feeling when listening to Poetry of the Deed that I’m just not getting back what I’m putting in. It doesn’t repay your attention with any particular good feeling.
Turner writes some hummable songs, sure, but they don’t gather up enough will or excitement to encourage it and that makes the album a very passive listen, and so along with thousands of other pieces of music of the same type it’s squashed into the background to be chatted over the top of at parties, because his songs don’t do very much – despite the bulk of the recording being done live with the full band, everything feels like it’s been selotaped together in a rigidly straight line with “start here” and “end here” at either side.
The same goes for his melodies, and that’s partly because Turner isn’t a singer. His voice has no dynamics and no tone – he’s only a couple of steps in front of just shouting a monotone over everything. It sounds like his vocal range has restricted him to writing very linear melodies without the energy to back them up properly, save on the album’s title track “Poetry of the Deed” and its first single “The Road”, which each have some texture in the mix which supports some half-decent hooks. They help to redeem an otherwise weary sounding album.
I’ve never been under the impression that we’re living under a tyrannical government, so the sentiment Turner tries to get across in Sons of Liberty doesn’t really hit me, but it strikes me as a little false, since political themed lyrics will always reach a select group of ears, and adding a song like that to an album probably sells a few more copies, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who doesn’t want to hear about how awful the government are from some 28-year-old guy with a history degree.
A lot of tired hooks, a lack of depth, contrived lyrics and a bad singing voice make Poetry of the Deed an album to ignore. But for fans of Turner’s previous band Million Dead it could make a not entirely terrible introduction to folk music, since the songs are accessible and whereas anyone with similar tastes to me might cringe at the banality of his lyrics, some might find it possible to relate to what he’s saying, but still, I don’t recommend it.
