Album Review – Frank! by Franco

On November 9, 2014, Franco launched their EP called Frank! at St.James Power Sta-tion in Sentosa, Singapore. The Frank! EP is officially the first release of the group’s cur-rent line up – Franco Reyes on lead vocals & guitars, Poldo Cañada on guitar, Dave Delfin on bass guitar and Victor Guison on the drums.

The EP features 6 songs, from Franco Reyes’ earlier days with his band Frank!, such as old hits like Spin and Fall, Prophetic Eyes, Manipulator and more.

So who exactly was Frank!?

Frank! was a four-piece alternative rock band that was based in Cebu City. They were formed in 1996 and won Band of the Year in the 2001 SMB Music Awards.
They released one EP entitled Tripped-out in 1999 and a full-length album entitled Drink, Drama, Dream in 2003.

Personally I was half – present during the 1990s band scene and I usually got my local rock stories from my good friend Tianos Makabenta of Seis Mil Clothing. That is why to have a second chance to listen to the music of Frank! kind of like, makes up for lost time, even if I still have a way to go.

However, for the hardcore Cebuano fans this Ep is a fitting tribute to the 90s Cebu mu-sic scene were grunge music was at its heyday and Frank! was one of the top bands in Cebu.

The Ep reminds us of the times were Franco Reyes’ music was still aggressive and pes-simistic just like grunge rock used to be. It also shows you that Franco Reyes even when he was just starting out already had his killer songwriting skills.

So if you want to know more about Franco’s roots and development or just plain curi-ous about the 90s grunge music scene of Cebu, then this album is a nice start to discov-ering that.

Frank! Ep was mixed and mastered by Eric Perlas at Tower of Doom, Quezon City, Phil-ippines. All songs published by Universal Music Publishing Philippines, a division of MCA music.

About the author: N.M. CABANGBANG or “BANGBANG” has been writing about events, art and culture for MetroCebuNews since June 2014. He graduated Bachelor of Fine Arts Major in Painting at the University of the Philippines Cebu and was the chairperson for two major student organizations, namely Fine Arts Student Organization (1997-1998) and Nagkahiusang Kusug sa Estudyante political party (1998-1999).

Since 2010, he has been an ART teacher at B.R.I.G.H.T. Academy and is also the football coach for the school’s women’s team. He is also the singer/songwriter of the rock & roll band PALTIK which has released their self-produced album, “Here Come the Guns of the South”.

He is happily married to his beautiful and talented wife, Rizza Del Castillo –Cabangbang and lives with their three beloved dogs: Choknut, Cream-O and Moby.