Listen: Frankie Broyles - "Seward Park"

photo by Michael Calyer

Since the end of his band Balkans back in 2012, Atlanta guitarist Frankie Broyles has kept himself busy: a solo 7", becoming a member of Deerhunter, reuniting with Balkans earlier this year. And now with new track "Seward Park", Broyles has announced his debut solo EP Slow Return out later this month on Skeleton Realm.

Much like "Capturer" "Seward Park" retains the garage-y jangle that characterized much of Broyles' earlier output with Balkans but with noticeably softer edges. Where "Capturer" sprawled ever outward slowly amassing an assortment of various sounds and effects, "Seward Park" is considerably more straight shooting. Broyles music has never particularly fallen into the harsher side of garage rock but on "Seward Park" there's a reliance on melody and brevity that's more typical of pop than Broyles has ventured towards in his past efforts. Broyles' production has also leveled up as "Seward Park" glides forward with an even-keeled smoothness that was somewhat lacking on "Capturer"/"Color Set". It all bodes very well for Slow Return which will no doubt feature similarly svelte jangle pop.  Thankfully the wait is rather brief as the EP streets in just two weeks.



Frankie Broyles debut solo EP Slow Return is out May 15th on Atlanta's Skeleton Realm. You can pre-order it on CD here.

Pitstop: Frankie Broyles

As some of my friends and fellow bloggers set about to recap their CMJ adventures, I began to recall my own CMJ experiences fondly. Despite the fact that I had an inarguably great time at CMJ this year, I can't shake the feeling that last year brought it harder. I only attended two days of CMJ 2011 but what an eventful, discovery-laden two days they were. One of my new music discoveries was the blistering rock of Atlanta's Balkans which have since gone on hiatus. Carrying on however is former front-man Frankie Broyles. One of the most endearing aspects of Balkans amazing set was oddly enough after when I met them and Frankie revealed himself to be ill. Getting over Mono to be exact. Incredible.



While Frankie didn't play CMJ this year, he's certainly been going strong since striking out on his own last  year, playing shows with Atlas Sound, Carnivores, and Lotus Plaza. While the punky jangle of his Balkans days has more or less been stripped due to lack of band members, Broyles still finds a way to recall the classic Strokes-esque cool that drew me to Balkans as well as an understated calm that fits Broyles vocals. The tracks on his  tour cd are all actually a little hard to pin down.


Electronic-based without giving in entirely, Broyles music is about much more than dance-y beats and cool tricks like a multitude of electronica artists and isn't quite raw enough to fit neatly into a singer-songwriter type box. Instead Broyles offers up a less surging, less incendiary form of rock than his Balkans days. It's softer without completely losing it's bite and tracks like "Color Set" and "Capturer" can soundtrack much more than lazy day chill sessions.

Pitstop: Balkans

Before heading off to CMJ almost two weeks ago, I had thoroughly planned out the showcases I would be attending and the bands I wanted to see. Or so I thought. Strangely enough there didn't appear to be that much happening on the Tuesday night I had chosen to start my CMJ adventure but the promise of Gauntlet Hair and Atlanta based band Balkans (who were short-listed on Spin Magazine's 30 Must See CMJ bands) playing at Pianos was the saving grace of my evening. Despite Gauntlet Hair cancelling, the evening was no doubt saved by Balkans.

The Atlanta foursome channel a Strokes-esque manner of cool, understated jangly rock while not just sounding like wannabes. Balkans' self-titled debut is collection of punky, drawling vocals with rapid, unforgivingly precise guitar rock with an oddly infectious pop sensibility. Their songs, though short, are an excitingly, attention-grabbingly angular - the kind that have you returning to the album to hear that awesome guitar lick again and again. If you haven't listen to Balkans yet, one listen will have you regretting it instantly.

Check out Balkans with this intense live video of album opener "Edita V":