Not long ago, a friend from Ireland suggested I take a listen to the Frames, a rock band from Dublin. The way he spoke about the group, I got the impression that something was amiss. Missing out on the most popular band in Ireland (more popular than U2) needed to be cured.

The Frames first collaborated as a band in 1991, releasing Another Love Song. The name comes from lead vocalist Glen Hansard’s hobby of fixing bicycles for his friends as a wee lad. With bicycle frames all over the place, his house was called the “house with the frames.” And eventually, the band became known as simply “The Frames.”

After a few releases and a four-year break since its last album, the band has come together again to drop its latest CD, Burn the Maps.

Comparing the 1991 album and its latest release, one is led to believe that the Frames are moving forward as a band in their careers while at the same time sounding less like an old-school Irish rock band. Today, the band has matured into a rock group that sounds immensely more diverse than bands that use the typical three-guitarists-and-a-drummer scheme.

There is something to be said for bands that are unknown to most rock enthusiasts but are able to travel the world on a tour spanning the United States as well as Australia, Denmark and the United Kingdom. Even more astounding is the band’s accomplishment of building up an audience from scratch over the last 15 years.

Burn the Maps begins with “Happy,” featuring a crisp and low-key acoustic guitar and the sobering combination of Hansard’s voice and fleeting melodies carried by a standard piano, violin and backup vocals from Colm MacConlomaire and Joseph Doyle. Midway through the song, the Frames treat listeners to some electronic backup by incorporating synthesizer blurbs and a distorted guitar filter to give the track even more depth than it began with.

The album’s genuine intensity through highs and lows lends instant credibility to the band. Throughout the other tracks, transitions mimic a roller coaster of emotions. But this isn’t a downfall; this characteristic is only an aural representation of life as we know it.

“Dream Awake” is one of the most notable tracks showing this roller coaster, as it begins in a sincere manner with just an acoustic guitar accompanied by Glen Hansard singing, “There’s a point in all your dreaming / to every time mean has just deserves, / and every time I caught you leaving” before the chorus, “I had to dream awake.” After a few more verses, the chorus erupts into a jam session reminiscent of the Smashing Pumpkins and Radiohead that builds to a cacophony of drums and electric guitars backing his voice.

In the middle of “Dream Awake,” Colm MacConlomaire unleashes his musical intuitiveness as the sounds of rock band and violin come together into a combination not heard from this type of band, which communicates the depth of the Frames. Ranging musical depths in this song transform a five-minute song into a track that doesn’t seem to last a minute before it is over.

The Frames incorporates other elements of electronic music into the song “Ship Caught in the Bay.” Beginning with a loop of three guitar chords played over three seconds, the track progresses with the dreaminess of minimal techno. Over this entrancing sound, MacConlomaire plays the keyboard with precision until drummer Johnny Boyle breaks the softness with a choppy drumbeat. Combined with additional keys and a fleeting violin, this track is arguably one of the most creative tracks on the album.

After a tour throughout the East Coast, the Frames will grace the Midwest with its presence, appearing in Chicago at The Metro Saturday night with Mark Geary, an Irish singer-songwriter.

Without a doubt, the Frames doesn’t need maps to continue its course of producing well-rounded rock music; so, why not burn them when they aren’t needed? With the spark found within this release, continuing without maps is not bad idea after the leaps of progress between earlier releases and this outstanding album.

Grade: AB

More information available at the website www.theframes.ie/

Hi-res album cover: http://media-01.anti.com/the_frames/burn_the_maps/mini-hi.jpg