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The Fray
The Fray
Review By Emily Zemler
Since the release of its debut, How to Save a Life, in 2006 the Fray has become one of the most overplayed bands in recent years. The Denver foursome’s mopey rock songs were featured on Grey’s Anatomy a few too many times, and you still can’t turn on a radio without inevitably hearing singer Isaac Slade’s achy voice pour out of it. The fact that the album went double platinum might suggests that, the Fray can do no wrong. And, if you buy into the formulaic, pseudo-emotional blandness, they can’t. The group’s new album sounds almost exactly like its debut and each song on it sounds almost exactly like the one before it.
While the band might not be inclined to admit it, this self-titled disc sounds prepped for mass consumption. The single “You Found Me” is a moody piano-driven track, and “Where the Story Ends” is a, um, moody piano-driven track. So is “Syndicate” and “Happiness.” And I could go on and on. The only exception is “We Build Then We Break,” which eschews that formula for something carefully layered, cymbal heavy and more reminiscent of Coldplay than Keane. Some of us may wish the Fray broke out of that box but sadly we’ll be in the minority.
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