Francine - Airshow

After listening to a few not-so-good and marginal promo CD's this week, it was a pleasure to finally get to the current release from Francine. Titled Airshow, the album was released back in June and has already gotten a good bit of blog attention. I have, however, ignored the buzz since I wanted to listen to the album without any particular expectations.

Hailing from Cambridge, Mass., Francine is a pop quintet that seems to be that rare act who could appeal to both indie nerds and commercial radio. It's accessible, but still smart and edgy. To my ears their sound is something akin to that of Elliot Smith, Grandaddy, or Death Cab, although they're not shy about injecting some digital effects into their pop. I understand that their past efforts have been more in the power pop mold, but I see little evidence of that here; the tracks on Airshow are generally more introspective and low-key in tone.

Here are a few tracks from the album to check out:

Francine - Daysucker
Francine - Here Comes
Francine - Zeros and Ones

They have a few more songs available on their official site and their MySpace page. The record can be purchased from Q Division Records for $10. You can also get if for $5 if you sign up for their mailing list via their MySpace. That's pretty nifty, I'd say.