If you’re looking for the new name in Canadian folk rock, now may be the time to turn your attention to The Franklin Electric. The Montreal band headlined two sold-out dates at Toronto’s Drake Hotel late last week and, if Thursday night’s performance was any indication, big things are headed their way.
For one, the four-piece is strong with their vocal harmonies. It’s the type of sound that garnered Mumford & Sons attention, but it also ventures into more adventurous territories in regards to their guitar work. It’s not the type of guitars that Mumford & Sons have been trying out more recently, either. Instead it’s a bit more comparable to label mates Half Moon Run – another big Montreal indie rock band that’s seen their audience numbers steadily increasing.
A rousing start on “Uninvited (Storm)” – complete with trumpet from strong-voiced singer Jon Matte – saw the crowd happy to respond in kind, a good sign so early in the night. There was definitely camaraderie between those in attendance and the band, the former very encouraging and the latter exceptionally personable. It’s also pretty evident they’ve been growing their fan base organically – less reliant on radio hits and more on stage connections.
“We had a really amazing time here opening for Ben Howard,” Matte told the crowd in regards to a February show at Massey Hall. It was a comment that warranted cheers from people returning for second helpings – apparently many felt the need for more than just an opening set.
Touring their 2014 debut, This Is How I Let You Down, the set consisted of reverb-drenched material from that album and the debut of darker sounding songs that were still in progress – potentially finding a home on the band’s sophomore effort.
The Franklin Electric also almost burnt the place down. I’m not talking about figurative gut belting, trumpet blasting burning. I mean literally. Unbeknownst to them and much of the audience, in the middle of “Where The Good Things Lie” a precariously perched candle on the side bar smashed into a bin of dirty, soaked-in-alcohol cups. Thankfully the flame didn’t catch and no one was harmed in the foot stomping of the show, but man… it would have been quite a way to go.
Things calmed down with an encore of the semi-unplugged “Show Me The Quiet Air” and then returned to the grandiose again, the band belting out “Unsatisfied” to finish up the show. They were barely off the stage before returning for their second encore at the crowd’s request – cheers and pleads of “one more song!” ringing through the air.
They’re bound to be big and probably bound to be divisive as well. It’s a clean sound – so those looking for grit will need to find their fix elsewhere. But for those a fan of the alt-folk genre, The Franklin Electric do it well and will inevitably start reeling bigger audiences in one song/show/trumpet blast at a time. As a pair of sold out Toronto shows can attest to: they’re on that path already.
