We covered two short releases from Philadelphia’s Francie Cool a few weeks ago, where we found ourselves being dragged into her eccentric-but-delightful world. Much of those releases felt like demos for something more developed, though at the end of the piece we hinted that a full-length album was in the pipeline. Sure enough Cool put out a self-titled record last month, produced by Carl Stevens.
Opener ‘Sugar Cutie’ sounds like the soundtrack to some whimsical village populated with adorable anthropomorphic animals, sweet and whimsical and slightly hyperactive. Though the lyrics are often dark and strange, the chorus makes things more ambivalent with a hint of something gentle at the centre of the song. “You always were a rough love, you always were a cutie”. ‘Chikura’ is an oddball acoustic pop song, the lyrics again odd and unnerving, ending on a Japanese outro that we’re afraid goes over our heads.
“Big brother said
“What if Francie we’re just all dead?”
I think he’s right
Drinks his blood red
late at night”
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After the synth pop interlude of ‘Koenji’, ‘Osaka’ returns to the acoustic lo-fi vibes and morose lyrics (“Losing all my friends / waiting for the end”), complete with another closing sample from something Japanese. The title track is a synth pop song which kicks into life with electronic drums and vocals, like a anime version of Owen Ashworth. The track provides some useful facts about the about the titular Francie Cool (she’s cool, she walks to and from school, she likes boys and playing with synths, etc.) before closing with a less that irreverent refrain.
Don’t do drugs, just laugh it off it’s okay;
anxiety it’s only in your mind everyday
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‘Kung Fu’ is probably the only bedroom pop song you’ll hear this year about the life of a warrior, complete with little hiiiya! karate sounds, and the opening lines of ‘Tsukiji’ are equally loveable. “I can’t do anything except watch four hours of the Lord of the Rings”. The song goes on to anxieties based on identity/gender, though in a way that weaves such concerns into small details of life (Super Monkey Ball 2 gets a mention, as does a stroll through a farmer’s market), meaning the song only packs gravity if you’re willing to listen closely and follow the threads. ‘All My Friends live in Himeji” is similarly serious, sounding like Told Slant meets Casiotone for the Painfully Alone as it confronts issues of self-esteem, before it segues into dreamy pop, sounding like a different track altogether. The album closes with ‘Kanagawa’, which doesn’t betray the wonderful oddity of the rest of the record.
“Blue hair blue veins
Tommy’s not my friend
I’m gonna teach him pain
Blue hair blue past
and finally at last
this surely will too past”
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Francie Cool is an album at once playful and serious, a release not willing to commit to full twee fun or straight-laced emotions but instead moulding them together, confronting important issues through a weird, interesting lens. Emerging from the rough demos, the world of Francie Cool is blossoming into something to behold. You can buy the album now from the Francie Cool Bandcamp page.
Album art by Callie Best