On August 28th, the Victoria-based Frog Eyes put out their sixth studio album, Pickpocket’s Locket on Toronto label Paper Bag.
I’ve been a fan of Frog Eyes (and frontman Carey Mercer‘s work in general) for years now. Back in the early-to-mid 2000s, there was a sense of excitement around Frog Eyes, in part because Spencer Krug was a member of the band before he went on to greater success as a member of Wolf Parade and Sunset Rubdown. They were also just a pretty interesting band, and Mercer was (and is) a fascinating frontman. Although some of that excitement around the band has died down, Pickpocket’s Locket may be the best Frog Eyes album yet. Earlier albums found Mercer and crew cramming songs so full of ideas and manic energy that it often felt like as soon as some cool melody was introduced, it was gone, and Mercer was off on another operatic tangent. Written on an acoustic guitar left by his late father, Pickpocket’s Locket finds Mercer calmer, allowing those melodies he often skirts past to linger and fill out the songs. And the result is a beautiful album from a talented and inspired songwriter at perhaps the peak of his powers.
On November 13th, Frog Eyes is playing a PopGun presented show at Baby’s All Right here in Brooklyn. I’ve never seen the band live, so hopefully I’ll be able to check them then.