On March 26, Frankie & His Fingers will release their new album Universal Hurt via SubFamily Records (pre-order). Today the band presents the album’s first single “To Die Would Be A Great Adventure.” The single debuted today at Punk Rock Theory and can be heard below. The track will be on all streaming services this Friday to add to your favorite playlists. On the song Vocalist, Frank McGinnis says, “This song is an anthem for everyone who struggles to let go of their once lofty dreams. When rekindling the fire of their long-dormant band, the song almost wrote itself. ‘To Die Would Be A Great Adventure’ seemed a fitting title, a quote from the 1991 movie Hook, given the song tackles the ennui of trying to keep one’s youthful energy alive.”
Before Frankie & His Fingers broke up in 2010, the trio of guitarist and singer Frank McGinnis, drummer Sammi Niss, and bassist Adam Stoutenburgh were the stars of a homegrown scene in New York’s Hudson Valley. Since forming as a guitar/drums duo at Bennington College in 2004, their nervy indie rock had drawn comparisons to classics like the Talking Heads as much as to their contemporaries in groups like The Get Up Kids and The Anniversary. On widely-pirated releases like One Hell of a Skeleton and Hell Broke Loose, Frank wrote witty, wordy, and at times acid-tongued stories of loneliness and heartbreak over razor-sharp guitar and springy rhythm section interplay. They sounded like a band about to break out, and they very nearly did.
But life made other demands. Adam went back to college, Frank explored ‘80s kitsch and folk-rock in a plethora of other bands, and Sammi sits behind the kit for acts as various as Real Estate and Laura Stevenson, as well her pursuing own solo work in Hiding Behind Sound. The band stayed close, and made various stabs at getting back together over the years, including a sold-out reunion show in 2013.
Universal Hurt sees the addition of long-time fan, and brother of Adam, Ryan Stoutenburgh on lead guitar and all the pieces fell back into place. Now Frankie & His Fingers are back from the grave.
Universal Hurt Track List
1. Celebrate
2. Gene Kelly & The Truck My Dad Built
3. Sad To Let You Down Like This
4. The Greatest Hometown Song Ever Written
5. Just Because You Are…Doesn’t Mean You Have To…
6. To Die Would Be A Great Adventure
7. Powerpop Record
8. W.O.O
9. Cake Heart
10. There’s A Dragon In That Cave…
