Frank & Walters can still knock out a winning anthem after all these years

As the Frank & Walters release a new album, Ed Power finds the band happy to live in the present rather than looking back to their early glory days

THINGS have changed for the Frank & Walters. The evergreen alternative rockers nowadays divide their time between music and day jobs that help pay the bills. Meanwhile, the 1990s’ indie scene of which they were part is gone never to return. But one thing endures: the group’s ability to knock out a winning anthem, brimming simultaneously with joy and pathos.

This is clear from the band’s seventh album, Songs For The Walking Wounded. Despite the serious title and singer Paul Linehan’s occasionally morose lyrics, the LP is, above all, a celebration. Twenty-six years in, the Franks remain as compelling and forward-looking as ever, with new single ‘We Are The Young Men’ arguably one of their most shimmering yet. This is no slight return — it is a triumphant comeback.