Band of the Week: Frankie & the Heartstrings

Posted on Dec 11th 2009 12:05PM by Stephen Dowling
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Florence Welch is clearly a woman not afraid of taking a punt. As this year's kooky pop princess flits her ethereal way across the UK on her winter tour, in tow are a band who have only just released their first single.

The band in question is Sunderland's Frankie & the Heartstrings, who have released a double-A side single this week, 'Hunger / Fragile', out on Rough Trade and limited to just 500 copies. In their own words they're a "brand new old-fashioned pop band from Sunderland" and only played their first gig a year ago. And now they're opening for one of the year's most-hyped acts.

Fronted by quiffed lead singer Frankie Francis, the five-piece have been writing and rehearsing all year while holding down jobs in the north east. The Guardian has already said "there are signs here that Frankie & the Heartstrings could be that rare creature, presumed extinct: the simply thrilling indie band," and compared them both to Edwyn Collins' old band Orange Juice and Kevin Rowland's Dexy's Midnight Runners.

These are big boots to fill for a band still in the process of limbering up. They only recently decided on the name Frankie & the Heartstrings after toying with the moniker Pop Sex.

'Fragile,' however, has the makings of a rough-and-ready indie anthem, with Francis' vocals swooping into the heavens like Marc Almond, and the band lurching and swooning behind him. You can see it here.

The baptism of fire of Florence and the Machine supports finishes next week and in January the band play a handful of dates alongside scuzzy blues-rock duo Swanton Bombs in Bristol, Bournemouth and London.