REVIEWSThe Frames, ‘The Cost’

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• SPIN Rating:3 of 10

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Label: Anti-

On their sixth album, these Irish rockers clearly ache to be anthemic rather than adventurous. The result is a tepid effort that bogs down their previously rugged and introspective rock with power-ballad vibrato, lurid over-orchestration, and petulantly vague lyrics. The Cost has been pared of the electronic influences that worked well on 2005's Burn the Maps, replacing them with self-indulgent swooning. When singer Glen Hansard hisses, "Dance, monkey, dance / Don't have me repeating myself" (on "The Side You Never Get to See"), you'll need a Guinness to erase the memory of a record with theatrics to spare but nothing to say.

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