You need to hear this band.

FranklinBridge played the Grape Street last night for WMMR‘s Thursday Night Rock Show, which supports the absolute finest in local music (the schedule can be found here… Shovelhook next week!).  I heard them on Jaxon’s Local Shots Vol. 2, but hadn’t seen them live.  Although my friends were trying not to “overhype” them, no amount of accolades could have prepared me for precisely how freaking face-melting this band was.  It’s one thing to hear chatter in the huge crowd the band drew, but it was another to hear my friends who are talented musicians themselves rave about a band.  And, I must say… their raves were completely founded – FranklinBridge rocks.

To describe FranklinBridge’s sound:

  • Stevie Wonder plugged into an amp
  • Everything Maroon 5 wants to be
  • The bastard child of N.E.R.D. and Nirvana
  • If you actually mashed-up Linkin Park and Jay-Z, they would be the resulting pulp

FranklinBridge, comprised of 6 members, is a technically tight band.  They combine samples, two percussionists, two guitars, keys, and a rockin’ bass to form a complete sound; by that, I mean that no instrument overshadows another.  The guys know how to play as a whole, which creates a rich texture with deeply interwoven rhythms and samples.  Somehow, they don’t suffer from being too complex – they’re simply one of those bands in which everything – even two drummers and a pre-recorded loop of handclaps - works.  They’ve also got killer personal style and a frontman with Pharrell’s swagger (and I think he stole P’s wardrobe too).  More importantly – they look like they’re having a blast onstage, transferring their energy onto their audience.  I feel bad for the clean-up crew of Grape Street because they’re probably still scraping faces off the floor today.

Go to their page and check it out for yourself.  Unfortunately, you won’t be seeing them locally anytime soon – rumor has it they’re headed out to LA to compete as finalists in a reality show that’s kind of like an American Idol for bands (the Next Great American Band?  I think that’s the name).  First episodes will be airing this month, so be sure to check your local listings because I’m too lazy to do so at the moment.

Or you could be cool and go friend them on MySpace right now and buy their shit and then when all of America is raving about them 6 months from now, you can be that music-snob asshole who’s like “Oh yeah, I totally knew about FranklinBridge before they were huge.”  You know you want to.

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