Frog has returned with the intriguingly named album, 1000 Variations on The Same Song. The album title comes from the feeling a songwriter gets when they feel like they’re rewriting the same thing over and over again. Instead of being discouraged by this, Frog has embraced it and created a unique blend of sounds that possess a ramshackle warmth and with plenty of variety and variations that are anything but monotonous.
Instrumentally the album is characterized by a lo-fi folky feel that intertwines with indie rock sensibilities often with hip-hop style lyrics. From the opening barroom piano chords to the indie rock guitars, to an eclectic mix of banjos, drum machines, and other sonic surprises, Frog keeps us guessing. Throughout it all, the wavering vocal falsetto further pushes the country-rock sound into Richard Manuel-territory. Offsetting this homespun feeling are the lyrics that feel more in the realm of hip-hop than the rural Americana imagery one might assume of the instrumentation. Like if Neil Young’s Harvest had more references to Gucci-branded clothing or a more country-fried version of Big Audio Dynamite’s Easy E cover.
While the opening “STILLWELL THEME” is a piano-led ballad with a swelling, sustained organ tucked beneath the lo-fi drums, emotional and high-pitched lead vocals, and merry-go-round background harmonies, the first half of the album has a more midwest emo bend. The open guitar chords and driving, repeating riffs of tracks like “TOP OF THE POPS VAR. I”, “DOOMSCROLLING VAR. II”, and the quiet snare work of “WHERE DO I SIGN VAR. III” are combined with couplets like “Rat-a-tat-tat make ‘em go flat/Spending a stack spending a stack”.
“HOUSEBROKEN VAR. IV” feels like an epitomization of the previous alternative rock and country-tinged folk tunes with braggadocious lines like “Topped Michael Jackson I outsold thriller/No cap, just facts man, a stone-cold killer”, delivered in an endearing drawl and offset with more bare-bones piano and sustained guitar strums. On the following track “BLAMING IT ALL ON THE LIFE STYLE” we return to purely folk rock with spritely plucked acoustic guitars that mirror the vocal melody. Similar country rock vibes bubble up on the distorted and lo-fi “WHERE U FROM VAR. VIII” that recalls something from a Dr. Dog record.
Just when you think you’ve mapped out all the album’s sonic territory, Frog hits the listener with album standout “JUST USE YR HIPS VAR. VI”. An R&B falsetto vocal that at times approaches Soulful Tiny Tim territory, suggestively belting out “don’t move your lips, just use your hips” as driving piano chords, jazzy drumming, and a background choir of la-la-la’s provide instrumental texture.
Staying true to the album’s theme of different variations on one song, all the songs within the tracklist include a “variation” label, but no track has a more confusing title than “MIXTAPE LINER NOTES VAR. III”. This is a great example of the album’s thesis that there are really only so many progressions, chords, melodies, notes that can be arranged to make a song. However, it is those limits that make it so rewarding when they are arranged in a way that makes the listener feel something powerful and magical. Frog possess a level of songwriting craft that they are aware of and not afraid to push boundaries of genre and arrangement. There’s even a Christmas song within the tracklist with a potentially new addition holiday tradition of “DID SANTA COME VAR. IX”.
1000 Variations on the Same Song is available now on streaming platforms and there are also pre-orders for vinyl via Frog’s Bandcamp page.
Written by John Brouk
