FRANKIE BIRD
Never Did Me Any Good
London, United Kingdom
‘Never Did Me Any Good’ is the third and latest single from the up-and-coming indie rocker, Frankie Bird. Guitar-focused and vocally harmonic, the single swells and drones around lyrics that talk straight to your heart. The attitude is warm, and inviting, the instrumental even more so. The song begins and you fall down a velvet slide, you keep going and going, not worrying where, as Frankie Bird has got you covered the whole way. The vocals are clean, high, modern. You get a sense of the person beneath the sound and it's gratifying. The guitar playing is the hook that digs ever deeper, with the drone in the chorus and the strumming carrying through, this song is going to be with me for a while.
The first thought I had when the song started was wow, the 00s are back and they’re back in style. But that thought didn’t hang around long and the reason is the complex melodies. Yes, the tones and textures that are on display here would feel at home besides names like Lavigne, but the melodies have gone so much further. They rise and fall, twist and turn. There’s a through line but it is deep, it’s like the vocals took a jazz workshop while the instrumental was out for lunch. It creates this beautiful divide between the vocals and the backing. The bass, guitar and drums are providing a stage for the vocals to play on, and it works. ‘Never Did Me Any Good’ I hope, is the first of many smashing tunes to come from Frankie Bird. If they keep on like this they’ll have a flock in no time.