Frog – ‘1000 Variations on the Same Song’
New York duo Frog follow up 2023’s ‘Grog’ with ‘1000 Variations on the Same Song’, out via Audio Antihero Records on 14 February, 2025.
This is an eclectic record that takes in themes of parenthood, living and finding yourself in your home city, with Frog singer-songwriter Daniel Bateman saying: ‘1000 Variations on the Same Song is a theme and variations—there are times in your life as a songwriter where you’ll start a bunch of stuff that all sounds alike, which can be a problem, something that you want to excise from yourself. This time I decided to embrace it and take it as far as it could go.’
There’s a welcome touch of the Cheers theme tune on album opener ‘Stillwell Theme’, but it’s married with gentle piano notes and Magnetic Fields-esque sensibilities. ‘Top of the Pops’ follows with short, sharp riffs and a more organic, hypnotic sound that recalls the US college rock bands of the early ’90s. You can feel the dread in the aptly named ‘Doomscrolling’. This slice of experimental art pop (tinged with Americana) is intense as military drums come into force and Daniel Bateman admitting he’s ‘Been caught thinking about you all this time’.
‘Where Do I Sign’ starts with the plea ‘Come downstairs, no one’s there’ delivered in cracked vocals while tender tones capture this sense of despair. The sadpop continues through the 2-minute-long ‘Housebroken’, a track filled with self-reflection: ‘I’m fucking around. I’m fucking around. I’m fucking around’. ‘Mixtape Liner Notes’ blends the fragile storytelling of early Perfume Genius with country-tinged guitar, while ‘Where U From’ finds Daniel asking the title over and over again amidst talk of national debt and faltering melodies.
The closing ‘Arthur McBride on the Lower East Side’ takes us straight into the heart of New York and introduces us to real characters, all delivered in visceral ways: ‘Junkies sitting on graves for the heat, pavement was cold under our feet’
While Frog claim this is ‘1000 Variations On the Same Song’, it’s a hell of a sound – and one you’ll want to revisit again and again.
