Review Summary: Turner delivers heart-felt lyrics with catchy, instantly likable melodies. It's a bit of a change from his past albums but change can be good. Frank turner faces the horizon everywhere he goes and hopefully will be around for years to come.
In the Past few years, Frank Turner has achieved a significant amount of success for an artist who is not typically played on mainstream radio 100 + times a day. there is a reason for this. Turner’s songs are instantly likable as is he. You just can not help but like him. His songs give the impression that you are listening to an old friend sing about your very own life experiences. His lyrics are filled with raw emotion, brutal honesty and wit. He is a true punk poet and “Poetry of the Deed” is a prime example.
First off, This is primarily a folk album but with a very punk attitude. This is no surprise as Turner is no stranger to punk as he was once the front- man of the hard-core band “Million Dead”. Some of the songs are just the simple folk equation of man and guitar and sound very much like his past two albums,
“Sleep is for the Week” and “ ”
Love, Ire and Song" However the rest sounds nearly like straight-up punk. This is due to the addition of his backup band “The Sleeping Souls.” With the backing band comes the addition of guitars, drums, bass, piano etc.
The backing band is what differentiates “Poetry of the Deed” from his past albums and paved the way for future “Frank Turner” albums.
The Very first track is Live fast, Die old. It is the ideal first track as it gets your attention right off the bat. The very first lyrics of the album are “I bought my soul back from the devil and now i'm keeping it all for myself.” Just these words intrigue you enough to listen to the rest of the album. In this song he kills the sacred rock idea of dying before you get old. Instead it’s all about living to the fullest until you are old and die. This attitude continues throughout the album.
The strongest moments of the album (for me at least) are “Try this at home”, Sons of Liberty” and “The Road”
“Try This at Home” is basically a D.I.Y punk song. Fast, loud an effective. It celebrates the spirit of punk as opposed to fame and the music industry.
“Because the only thing that punk rock should ever really mean
is not sitting round and waiting for the lights to go green,
and not thinking that you’re better because you’re stood up on a stage.
If you’re oh so ***ing different then who cares what you have to say?”
“Sons of Liberty” steps into the territory of politics and history. It’s a sort of libertarian, anti-authoritarian anthem. It sounds very much like a traditional English folk-song complete with a beautiful fiddle solo.
“So if ever a man should ask you for your business or your name
Tell him to go and *** himself, tell his friends to do the same
'Cause a man who'd trade his liberty for a safe and dreamless sleep
Doesn't deserve the both of them and neither shall he keep”
“The road” Is a love song to traveling and not staying in one place to long. It follows the example of the classic folk singers such as “Guthrie” and “Dylan” and “Cohen”. It speaks of stories of the road and is a celebration to wanderlust and is very reminiscent to early American folk melody-wise. Once again it celebrates life and the fact the death will inevitably come.
“ Poetry of the Deed is a wonderful album and frank turner is a true poet and well worth your attention. While it’s different than Turner’s first two albums, it’s still rather impressive. He delivers heart-felt, humorous and clever lyrics that are instantly relatable.
My Theory is that Frank Turner is here to stay and i like it. Life is too short to live without poetry and Mr. Turner has the remedy.
