For The Birds

Following the dizzying array of musical styles on 1998’s Dance The Devil, The Frames departed the ZTT label and went to ground in Kerry and Chicago, recording half of their fourth album under Steve Albini’s watch, the other half with Dave Odlum as producer. For the Birds witnessed the band morph into a very Irish art-folk outfit not a million miles from Sparklehorse, The Dirty Three or, in parts, Mogwai (‘Santa Maria’). Even in its most accessible moments (the magnificent ‘Lay Me Down’) For the Birds was a marvellously crafted record – songs like ‘When The Heart Just Stops’, ‘Headlong’ and ‘Mighty Sword’ revelling in their own quiet beauty. For all its immediate suggestions of opaqueness, For The Birds found a deep resonance, eventually going multi-platinum in Ireland and establishing The Frames as a major force.

No 16 in 2009, as voted for by over 200 Irish musicians. Up from No 35 in 2004.