For The Birds
(35/100 Greatest Irish Albums)

In which The Frames walked out on a bad marriage with Trevor Horne’s ZTT label, took Claire Leadbitter on as manager, and set about making a grainy earthenware folk record on a shoestring budget, half of it overseen by Steve Albini (Pixies, Nirvana) in Chicago, the rest by guitarist Dave Odlum in Kerry. The result? Tunes like ‘Lay Me Down’ and ‘What Happens When the Heart Just Stops’: melancholic, low-key and not all that far from Palace Brothers or Sparklehorse territory. Elsewhere, set pieces such as ‘Santa Maria’ suggested the bravura dynamics of Godspeed You Black Emperor or Low. Before its release, even the band’s closest allies in the industry expressed concern about the apparently unfriendly nature of For The Birds, but the live shows told a different story. The fans took the record to their collective bosom, and it went multi-platinum, establishing Hansard and co as the pioneers of Ireland’s burgeoning independent scene.