The Fray Sticks to The Same Routine

By Staff Writer Dylan Hares

Alternative pop-rock is a tight group that is easily identifiable. Coldplay, Keane, Augustana, and many other piano-driven, minor-key, mid-tempo groups fall neatly here and are easy to pick out of the modern rock scene which includes punk, alternative and heavy metal.

The Fray has been one of my favorite alternative pop-rock bands for a long time now because of their emotionally charged lyrics and catchy piano riffs.

Their debut studio album How to Save a Life was on the border of iconic, as college-aged kids identified with their distinguishable singles. Personally, I thought How to Save a Life was very well-crafted, well-thought out and a great addition to the collection of anyone who finds themselves through this genre.

The Fray’s self-titled sophomore album, The Fray, doesn’t really have the same impact. The main problem isn’t that lead singer Isaac Slade’s lyrics aren’t good or that the piano isn’t minor enough, it’s that The Fray doesn’t tread any new ground.

With Blender Magazine and Rolling Stone magazine giving The Fray subpar scores, I had hoped that I could stand in defense of one of my favorite bands.

Sufficed to say, The Fray is very average and much of the same. A lot of the songs could easily fit on How to Save a Life and this album just seems more like an expansion of it.

The opening track, “Syndicate,” showed some positive qualities of the band’s previous work, yet pointed the four-member ensemble in the artistic direction necessary for their follow-up album.

It has much of Slade’s writing style; using ambiguous, but relative analogies for what he is trying to say and the piano riffs are simple and effective.

The song is moody and keeps moving the whole time, but not much has changed. Hopefully, Slade croons, “All that we know for sure is all that we’re fighting for.”

I did enjoy track two, “Absolute,” because there seemed to be a lot of tempo experimentation and flying vocals over the chorus. The song also showcased the increased emphasis on guitar on this album, and it was used quite effectively.

Track three is the first single off the album, “You Found Me.” It is a good single and a catchy ballad, but a lot less piano-driven then “How to Save a Life” or “Over My Head,” two of their singles off of the first album.

The song seems to be a conversation with God and the role he plays in someone’s life, highlighting Slade’s talent for writing personal lyrics. The song sounds like the band is tapping Augustana’s “Boston.”

Track five, “Never Say Never” is almost identical—save for the lyrics—to two or three songs on How to Save a Life and doesn’t really make me think this is the follow-up album we’ve been waiting for.

Track eight, “Ungodly Hour,” is extraordinarily intimate and a good niche that the Fray should settle into. Unfortunately, the album ends with an average track that doesn’t leave me feeling good.

All in all The Fray by The Fray is a very average album and is not at all spectacular. Perhaps they set the bar too high for themselves, but they definitely could have done a lot better.