Queens, New York band Frog follow up their 2015 album ‘Kind of Blah’ with brand new mini LP ‘Whatever We Probably Had It’. Available via our friends at Audio Antihero Records, the eight songs veer across all kinds of genres with real tenacity.
A sports chant of ‘FROG! FROG! FROG!’ opens the record on ‘Frog Lives (Intro)’ and is swiftly followed by ‘American’ – a lo-fi track that combines the wondrous aura of Neutral Milk Hotel with the experimental tome of Stephen Malkmus as the band sing ‘God bless the U.S’ with considerable angst. ‘Something to Hide’ is a warts-and-all account of being cheated on with passionate screams and US emo influences shining through: ‘Don’t you know why I don’t call you? Don’t you know why I don’t care?’
‘God Once Loved a Woman’ is a more intricate and intimate piece that is equal parts heartfelt Wilco observations and magical Mercury Rev atmospherics. It has a huge bass sound as Frog talk about God creating a woman and how ‘her eyes lit up like she recognised someone’ when she catches a glimpse of him and his poignant observation back to her: ‘He said ‘you are the most beautfiul thing that I made”. ‘Gimme Your Number’ opens in sparse fashion with a whistling solo that evolves into some kind of space rock with glitchy and atmospheric moments.
There’s an air of nostalgia and longing throughout the Stars-like ‘Bones’ as the band talk about Queens with powerful words including ‘Do you remember that tree?’ and ‘Did you know that I thought about you every year in the cold where the train rattles through’. The closing ‘Don’t Tell Me Where You’re Going’ has more in common with Willy Mason to start with before echo-led effects join the fray as the band reassure you not to be afraid and ‘Don’t tell me where you’re going, it hurts so bad’.
‘Whatever We Probably Already Had It’ is an empassioned record you’ll want to have in your collection.
